Brave New World
by SilencedSonic
Summary: A boy from Earth wakes up to find himself on Remnant. Watch as he joins Beacon academy, and befriends the beloved RWBY cast. With many secrets, a dark past, and a frightening being trying to control him, he must either confide in his friends, and hope they trust him, or be eaten from the inside. Rated T for language and descriptive scenes of violence.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Foreword:**

 **This story is about a boy from Earth who, in the wake of a tragic accident, somehow wakes up to find himself in a brand new universe. He finds himself on the planet of Remnant in the RWBY universe, and Beacon is currently enrolling. The boy always wanted to be a warrior, and decided to apply, and train for the test for enrollment. Watch as the boy makes his way up the ranks to become among the best hunters Remnant has ever known.**

 **This story will take place before Ruby and the rest of the main characters are starting their education at Beacon. They have all been accepted, and will be attending it. All teams will remain the same. The story will progress mostly canon, with some added events in between with the new character.**

 **I've had this story floating around in my head, and decided to give it a try. I like the way it sounds in my head, and the possibilities that I am able to do with it are virtually endless. Regardless of popularity, I will always be updating this, as it is very fun, and I would find it enjoyable to have a project that I have a strong passion for (not that I don't like any of my other stories, I love them, but this one idea came into my head randomly one day and I was like, that's** _ **really**_ **good, so yeah). Anyways, let's get going. I'm sure you'll love this story. Don't be afraid to favorite, or review. Constructive criticism is most certainly welcome.**

 **(A/N, 1/2/2017) Just finally rewrote the first chapter. It took me forever to get to it, but I finally did it. Now it isn't absolute crap.**

 ***All characters that appear in this story are fictional by all means. I only own my created character, all others belong to RWBY, which is rightfully owned by Roosterteeth.***

 **A Brave New World**

 **Chapter 1: Prologue**

Earth.

A place full of war, hate, and destruction. But also a place full of hope, progress, and unity at the same time.

Every now and then, someone rises out of the ashes of destruction, or out of the mountain of oppression, the waves of fear. Many times those people rise to be some of the greatest heroes of their generation, but also the greatest villains to others.

With them, change is always brought to the world, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes a mix of both.

But not all heroes rise so visibly, sometimes by preference, not wanting to be recognized, or they just don't get the recognition that they deserve.

But what about a hero that wasn't a hero to Earth, but a hero to another world entirely?

This is the tale of one such person, a boy, no more than 17, who goes by the name of Steven Paxton. He had dark brown eyes, just like his mother, and short dark brown hair combed to the right. He was born and raised in a small rural town outside of Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. His family of four, consisting of his older sister and his mother and father, loved him very much, as he did them. He had several friends, the number drastically increasing over the last year as he finally met new people, but he made sure to keep his old friends close regardless. They all understood each other and did many things together, often showing a brotherly type bond.

Additionally, he had a special someone in his life that he loved very much. Jenny was his girlfriend, and they had been together for about 3 years now, and they both loved each other for who they were, and didn't give to damns about appearances. She had long, brown hair, beautiful blue eyes, and the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen. The two of them often thought about spending the rest of their lives together, and how they'd both get married as soon as they could, that's how in love they were.

Steven was currently in high school. He was a smart kid. Even though he wasn't in all honors or AP classes, he still believed that he was truly special when it came to knowing about some things much more than others, but not in such a way that he was arrogant. Specifically, he knew a lot about the world around him, politics, and how things worked, such as economies and ecosystems, and he loved technology. The sciences and math came easily to Steven, and he was passionate about history, specifically of his own nation, the United States. He was very patriotic about his country, but not a racist towards outsiders, as he always kept an open mind about everyone, often putting himself in others shoes to see their reasoning behind many actions. By no means was he a racist. Although he disliked some nations of the world, he only disliked the nation, and not its people, as he knew that many people within nations do not always agree with what their respective nations are doing, and that they are not all the same way as many media outlets led people to believe. There is a big difference between what stereotypes and the media paint of the people of other nations, and what those actual individuals are like, and he knew that.

Steven loved going to school, learning new things and what not. He always wanted to be a video game designer, and so was very obsessed with video games. Deep down, however, he knew he was a warrior. Steven was by no means a violent person, in fact he was very calm and wasn't the kind of person to hold grudges on anyone very easily, or to lash out on someone. But should someone do something extreme that either would harm him or his friends or anyone else he cared about, he knew that he could become very violent, but he luckily hasn't had to show that side of him to anyone. With this, and combined with his extreme patriotism of his country, he often fantasized about being in the army, specifically a tank commander, as tanks were another passion of his.

Steven was also a very caring person, often concerned about others before himself. If one of his friends was in need of someone, he'd always be there. Jenny was no exception of course, she lived a hard childhood, and having someone like Steven always there for her is what kept her going. He was also a great listener, and was often someone people could confide in, telling him secrets that they knew he would keep safe for them. He was also very friendly in general, and a comical person too. He liked to make jokes where he could. He enjoyed making others laugh. Because of this, and many other traits he had, Steven was a very friendly and approachable person. Giving off the air that he's trustworthy and always had good intentions, people would most always quickly befriend him and trust him with important things despite only knowing each other for a short time.

Steven also was very unique in the sense that he was extremely creative. He had ADHD, which made sure his mind was always racing, which did allow ideas to come through his head quite nicely, and liked to make things with his hands. Mostly in the form of drawing or building, Steven always found it fun, easy, and exciting to take an idea from his head and bringing them into the world. He even knew how to build his own weapons, knowing many guns inside and out with his experiences before in Maine and New Hampshire while hunting with his father and uncle, as well as a lot of research online due to his fascination and obsession with them. Given the right tools and materials, and a reasonable amount of time, he could probably build a gun of his own.

If you were to ask any one of his friends, or anyone close to him about what they would describe his personality as, they'd often describe him as an animal. The animal always varied from person to person however. Some would say that he's very docile and calm, yet protective like a moose, while others would describe him as a dog; loyal, always there for you, and a great friend. Some would even yell you that they see him as something much like a Bear or Tiger; often peaceful towards people, but if provoked wrongly, it _will_ come after you, and it _will_ try to kill you. But those people also would be sure to add that those would be in extreme situations, and not everyday ones.

Currently, it was the middle of the summer, 2016. Steven had been on summer vacation from school for a little over a month. He and his family were all in his father's silver pickup truck, and were on their way up to their favorite vacationing spot; North Conway, New Hampshire. They went up there at least twice a year, and loved it every time. They had been going there for years, always drawn to the White Mountains and the beautiful nature around them. With their RV being towed by the truck behind them, Steven couldn't wait to get up there and get away from it all for a little while. Sure, the beds kinda sucked, but that's not why they were going on vacation. On the way up, Steven was listening to his favorite music, looking out the window in thought. He couldn't help but be excited for his senior year in high school. He was pondering on how he got this far, and how he could succeed and achieve great things in life if he kept his course and played his cards right. He looked over to his sister and mother, seeing that they were sleeping on the long car ride. He smiled at this, and then continued to look out his window at the road ahead, watching the semi-trucks drive by them on the opposite side of the highway, excited for his vacation. He began to think of what his family was going to do there for the week ahead of them. They were going to go hiking, shopping, zip-lining, go look at the nature, float on the Saco River, eat some nice food, go up Mt. Washington, and who knows what else! Steven could barely contain his excitement. Steven then looked at the GPS to see how much longer they had until they arrived at their destination.

2 hours, 37 minutes it read. Figuring he still had a while to go, he decided to shut his eyes and rest up for a bit, passing the time quickly. Steven dozed off in a matter of minutes.

While asleep, Steven was dreaming. Dreaming about him and Jenny being together, married, a few kids running around, playing. The dream he couldn't wait to live for himself. Holding hands while sitting on two chairs on their deck, watching their kids, Steven was in heaven. But his beautiful dream slowly started to become a nightmare. It started with a concerned look on his wife's face, looking at Steven, her eyes tearing up. She then began to cry. Steven became very worried, wondering why this was. He tried to ask her what was wrong, but nothing was coming out of his mouth when he tried to speak. Then, the two chairs on his deck began to separate, getting further apart from each other every moment, forcing the two lovers to let go of each other's hand, both desperately trying to reach and rejoin with the other's hand. Steven tried to get up to run over to her, but he was somehow stuck to his chair. But then Steven realized that he was asleep, as this was extremely unrealistic, and he knew it. Through this realization, he was able to snap himself awake upon hearing a semi-truck's horn nearby.

As Steve snapped out of his dream, he felt very calm when realizing he was just dreaming, and it was only a nightmare, just during the day. He was thankful that the truck honked his horn, whichever one it was. It allowed him to come back to reality.

But as he looked forward he could see why there was a semi honking his horn.

An RV was cutting off a semi hauling a trailer like an idiot, cutting in front of him too quickly before clearing the whole truck, forcing the semi to swerve to the left in front of him. At the sudden turn at high speeds, the truck lost traction, and jack-knifed across the highway, before finally falling on its side from the extreme forces on the vehicle.

Steven, and everyone in the truck with him looked at it in horror, seeing what happened right in front of them. With the added weight of the camper behind them, the silver pickup could simply not stop fast enough from 70 miles per hour.

Everything slowed down very rapidly for Steven as he watched his father desperately trying to stop before slamming into the truck in front of them. As he watched the truck slam into the obstacle at 50 mph, he could see the vehicle crumbling in front of him. Windows shattering, metal bending, bones crushing, blood spewing, everyone's face in agony. He slowly watched his family and himself dying in front of him.

Suddenly, everything started to turn white, the pain started to disappear. He figured he was dying, and that he would at least soon be able to see his family in the great land above. But the white light soon turned into black and purple. Looking around, Steven could swear that he was in space, but knew it was strange regardless if he was dead. Then he suddenly felt like was falling very rapidly. Before he knew it, he hit something below him hard, something like a floor. Everything turned white again, forcing Steven to close his eyes at the brightness.

Upon opening his eyes, Steven saw he was lying on the ground of a forest. Green and lush, the sky blue, the birds singing. Steven quickly sat up, looking at himself for injury to behold that he was completely fine. Tears started to build up in his eyes as he looked around frantically for any signs of his family or the highway which he crashed on, seeing neither. He quickly stood up, tears now running down his face.

"MOM?! DAD?! JACQUI?!" He yelled out into the forest. "no" he whispered. He began to run in the direction he was looking in, trying to find his family. "no, no, no, no, this cannot happen!" he said out loud before calling out for his family again. He must have done this for many minutes before finally breaking down on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. He couldn't stop thinking about what he was just forced to watch. But he soon realized that if _he_ was able to survive somehow, then maybe his family survived too.

With this glimmer of hope fresh in his mind, Steve slowly got up, wiped the tears off his face, and thought for a moment.

Regardless of how he got to where he is now and despite what happened, there had to be civilization _somewhere_ nearby, _somewhere_ he could get help. Additionally, he figured that the same thing that happened to him could have easily happened to his family. With that, he stopped and looked around, listening, trying to find any evidence of people. Not more than a few seconds pass when he looks up to see some sort of airship flying overhead. Under more normal circumstances Steve would've been awestruck at the amazing machine, but remembering his situation, he suppressed those feelings.

He logically thought that the airship could either be heading towards a city or away from one. He couldn't decide which of the two it was though, as he couldn't tell if it was slowing down, speeding up, or moving vertically at all due to the thick trees in the forest he's standing in the middle of. It was a 50/50 shot, but he decided to go with his gut instinct and headed in the same direction the airship was going.

He began walking, knowing that if he went the wrong way, he would still have some energy to be able to backtrack and head in the correct direction. As Steven was making his way through the forest, he couldn't help but notice that some of the plants in this forest were somewhat different than those found in New England, but he didn't pay much attention to it as it would distract him from his objective.

He felt like he had been walking for a long time, so he decided to stop and sit down to rest for a bit next to a nearby tree. As he sat, he listened to the nature trying to stay as calm as possible given his situation. As he was doing that, he went through with himself on how he thought he might've gotten to where he is.

He remembered the crash, and how everyone sustained fatal injuries, including himself. Yet here he is. Then he remembers seeing white light, then floating in space somehow, then seeing white again before opening his eyes to see that he's on the ground in the middle of a forest. Steven tried to make sense of how that happened. First, he thought he could still be dead. He then looked down at his arms, and pinched one of them. He certainly didn't feel dead, and seemed in control of his body. He felt completely normal in fact, minus the circumstances of course. He was in control of his own actions, so it's not some sort if dream. So being dead is certainly out of the question, he concluded. Next he figured that maybe he could've been moved away to safety from the crash, but then he figured that, if that was the case, he'd either be in a hospital, or he'd at least be able to see or hear the highway from where he was. He wasn't launched or anything, otherwise he'd still be injured. Which brought up another question, how come his legs weren't removed from his body after he _literally_ watched them snap in half? Additionally, if his body _was_ moved, why weren't there any other people near him? Steve couldn't think of any logical reason as to how he got here, so he put it in the back of his mind as right now he just needed to figure out where his family went. When he stopped thinking for a moment to take in the nature around him, he thought he heard what sounded vaguely like a bunch of people talking in a crowded area nearby. A sense of happiness washed over Steven as he started to move towards the sound.

His happiness quickly went away when he hears a low growl behind him. Fear now taking root inside of him, Steven moved at a faster pace, just to be safe. Then he could hear something running past him nearby. Now in a full sprint, his fear turned into terror at what could potentially be hunting him. 'If this is a pack of wolves or something, I'm done for sure' he thought to himself. But wolves it was not. When he saw what was actually hunting him, he knew it was much, _much_ worse.

A large creature that could only be described as a werewolf by his vocabulary, jumped out right in front of him, making a loud snarl, bearing its teeth. The creature was all black with the exception of its blood red eyes, and white bony skull, spines, and plates that decorated its body, with blood red streaks on many of them.

"HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK?!" he yelled scared to death.

The creature was easily twice Steven's height, and seemed to have a lot of strength based on a quick glance of its plentiful musculature. Quickly realizing that he had no chance at fighting the animal, he turned and ran as quickly as he could in the opposite direction, screaming "HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" several times, hoping someone may come upon him. The creature let out a sort of roar into the air, as if to taunt Steven in a way, and then began to run after him.

Steven quickly glanced behind him to see that the beast was gaining on him rapidly. Seeing that running was clearly not working, he quickly looked around to see if he could find a rock or a large stick, _anything_ that he could use to try to defend himself. To his left he could see a large branch of what he hoped was oak wood, and quickly ran over to it, picked it up, and immediately swung it around him, and struck the creature right on the side of the head.

"EAT SHIT" He yelled upon seeing his successful blow, but quickly realized that it would take more than an oak branch to take down the beast.

Upon being struck by the branch, the creature simply stopped and moved his head along with the blast, unfazed. It then slowly turned its head back towards Steven menacingly.

"Son of a…" Steven began to say, but was suddenly pounced on by the beast, pinning him to the ground. It began to hack and slash at his body violently. Steven was feeling no pain however, instead he was feeling angry, _enraged._ Steven could notice his body emitting a red glow, and he got a sudden burst of strength. Steven quickly pushed the creature off of him somehow. Steven's eyes were now glowing a bright red, and as he stood up to fight the creature, he couldn't help but let out a loud, unhuman roar. Without thinking, Steven got down on his hands and knees, and began to roar again, then suddenly transformed into a large velociraptor in a quick flash of light. Where Steven once stood, he was replaced by a 6 foot tall raptor with orange skin and sharp red stripes that went from his back to halfway down his body. On his arms, head, tail, and parts of his legs were beautiful blue feathers with yellow in the middle. Steven, not fully aware of what he just did, didn't really care. He had a score to settle with the beast.

Steven let out another roar, which was now turning into more of a screech, taunting the creature in front of him. The creature, clearly surprised by this, lets out a howl, bringing out six more of the same beast from the forest behind him. Unfazed, and eyes blazing red, Steven sprints forward with amazing speed, ten does a 360, using his tail to knock the closest monster off of its feet, then pounced on the one behind it, slashing at its head with his new claws. Steven didn't notice that the creature had started evaporating as he kept attacking the creature, until one of the dark beasts lunged into him, pulling him off. Quickly recovering and getting back on his feet, Steven quickly ran forward at his attacker, biting it straight in the jugular, crushing it with his powerful jaws. The creature instantly fell down and started to evaporate, his neck also broken from the force of the bite. Steven noticed this time that the creature was evaporating, most likely signifying that it was dead.

Steven then turned around to face his five other attackers, the first one he hit with his tail back on its feet again. Steven let out another screech, taunting the creatures. In response, the creatures let out another howl, bringing in countless more of them behind. This only made Steven fill with more rage. He started to glow bright red again, then quickly changed into what could only be described as a hellish tyrannosaurus. It was at least 30 feet tall, and was all black with dark red stripes similar to his previous form on his back. Instead of the small arms a tyrannosaur would usually have, Steven had much larger arms, ones that were actually usable, and they had four fingers, but they were still rather short. Additionally, there were spines and spikes coming out of the skull of the beast, one coming out of the nose like a rhino, some on the arms, some on the legs, and some along its back. The teeth of the beast were extraordinarily long, thick, sharp, and plentiful.

Letting out another roar, Steven quickly charged forward, head down to strike with the horn on his nose, and into the mass of enemies. In response, the large mass of beasts let out a collective roar in the air, then charged in response. As Steven made contact with the first one, he thrust his head upward, impaling the unlucky filth. He then immediately brings his head back down and picks up the next with his mouth, thrashing it around violently, hitting a few other beasts. Letting go, then whips his tail to the right, straight into a small group of them that were trying to jump on him. He then brought his head back down to the ground and began thrashing it side-to-side, mauling any creatures it hit with the additional spines on his head, before charging straight again, trampling any creatures that aren't impaled by the horn once more. After passing the group entirely, Steven then turned around, thrashed the impaled creatures off of his horns, then let out another loud, bone chilling roar, and moved his left leg as though he was signaling he was going to charge again. Eyes still burning red, rage still inside of him, he ran right back into the fray. However, when he got halfway through the mass of enemies, he was forced to stop as he saw what must have been a few hundred soldiers coming through the forest, attacking the creatures as well.

This gave Steven courage, as he finally found some help, but first he needed to help them out. He stayed in the middle of the horde, and began attacking any of the hellish creatures he could see. Thrashing them around, impaling them, whipping them off with his tail, Steven went for maximum damage.

As the horde was thinning out, Steven became much more careful, and even went as close to the soldiers to help save some of them by grabbing creatures that were pouncing on them in midair, then throwing them aside.

The soldiers meanwhile, were unsure what to make of this gigantic beast that they've never seen before, but knew it wasn't a Grimm, as they almost never attack one another, and especially not on this scale.

When the last Grimm had been trampled at Steven's feet, with its head being torn off by his powerful jaws, Steven then turned towards the soldiers, and slowly walked towards them.

Seeing the beast coming towards them, but unsure of its intentions, the soldiers prepared to shoot the beast.

"Hoooold!" one of the men could be heard saying to the rest.

"Look at its eyes!" another said, pointing. Steven's eyes were turning from the blood red of his rage back to his normal dark brown eyes, with white around them.

Steven could feel the anger leaving him, and as he got closer to the soldiers, he could feel many of the spines begin to recede back into his body. He felt safe again.

"Hold your fire!" One of the men said, seeing that the creature appeared more harmless than it was previously. And as Steven got right in front of them, he stopped. Then he glowed bright red again, but this time he returned to his normal, human self, with a red glow coming back around him, then fading. There wasn't a scratch on his body.

The men were astounded when they found out a _human boy_ just killed all of the Grimm behind him, without a scratch on him. They were simply all dumbfounded.

Then, out of the middle of the men, one man stepped forward. He was rather tall, with white hair, glasses, and a black jacket on top of a green undershirt with a green scarf. He also wore black pants and boots, and walked with a cane.

"That was certainly impressive…" he said, clearly amused and impressed. "Tell me, what is a boy doing out here all by yourself without any form of weapon in Grimm territory?"

"I- I…" Steven began, not sure he should trust the man, but realized he was also his only hope. "I don't know how I got here. One moment I was in a truck with my family, then the next thing I knew we crashed into an overturned semi and then I saw me and my family die slowly, and then there was a bright white light, and then I woke up in _there_ completely fine," pointing towards the forest, "and…. I have no idea where I am, or what even _happened_." He began, starting to cry. "Then I got attacked by whatever those _things_ were." Pointing back at the Grimm he had just killed. "and the next thing I know I turn into a _frickin_ dinosaur! And then I go all ape shit on the damn things." He finally broke down on the ground, crying uncontrollably.

"I see…" the man said to him. "Here, come with me. I'll see what I can do to help you." The man said, outstretching his hand to Steven. Steven took the man's hand, who helped him up. "Let's go." He said. "I know a place we can talk about this without you having to worry about so many eyes watching you." Steven nodded in acknowledgement, sniffling, and wiping the last of the tears from his eyes.

A few moments later, Steven asked. "I should probably introduce myself after what I just did there." Steven said with a slight chuckle. "I'm Steven. Steven Paxton." He said, extending his hand out for a handshake.

"I'm professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy, but you can just call me Ozpin." He said, accepting the handshake.

 _The two then walked towards the city that Steven had been walking towards earlier before he was interrupted, but little did he know that that city was none other than Vale, and that he was no longer on Earth anymore, but now on a new planet called Remnant. Little did he know it, but his life was about to take a huge turn for the better, a new chapter had begun for Steven._


	2. Chapter 2: New Beginnings

**Chapter 2: New Beginnings**

* * *

Steven walked in silence with Ozpin on the way to wherever they were going. As Ozpin brought him into the city which he called Vale, he couldn't help but see that this city looked so much like any city would appear on Earth. There were streets with cars, parks with kids playing in them, small businesses that were unique, book stores, convenience stores, novelty shops, toy stores, grocery stores, everything. He could smell the bakeries and local restaurants. It must have been about noon or at least early afternoon, as the restaurants were packed with hungry people. As he looked closer at the crowds gathering at the stores, he noticed that some of them had several, but uniquely different, animal traits. More specifically, some had _tails!_ Or _animal ears!_ They certainly _looked_ human, everything other than those traits indicated that. He was _so_ confused. Then there was also some shops labeled 'dust shops', which also confused him, but he quickly dismissed it, thinking it _could_ be something akin to a medical marijuana shop or something, he _was_ from Massachusetts after all, those do exist there. But boy was he wrong. He'd eventually find out how valuable dust would be to him, but he'd figure that out later. He also noticed a lack of gas stations around the place, and they were going through what _seemed_ to be the center of town. And yet, there were cars driving around. A noticeably less amount than there were on Earth, but nonetheless, there were cars, with _wheels_ , with, what he could tell, _engines_ , but there wasn't any gas cap on any of them. 'How peculiar', He thought to himself.

At this point Steven must have had a confused expression on his face, as when Ozpin looked at him, he smiled and simply said to him "It seems you have many questions. I'll be happy to answer all of them for you once we're somewhere safe."

Indeed Steven had _many_ questions. Where was he? Where is his family? How did he get here? What were those creatures back in the forest? What kind of world is this? Is this Earth? What was up with some of those people? But perhaps one of the largest questions in his mind, How the _hell_ did he turn into a dinosaur _twice_?! And those were only _some_ of the questions he had.

* * *

Some time had passed as they travelled west through the city towards a very tall tower that dominated the skyline around the city, and what appeared to be ancient ruins of some sort to him. It seemed dead, even lifeless, as no one was there but the grass and the bushes and a few birds here and there. He did also notice a crow fly nearby, and it seemed to be spring time, but then again, he could be on a different planet for all he knew, so maybe the ecosystems were different. But that begged another question, there's a crow right there, he just saw it. He noticed plenty of oak trees in the forest, and there were humans here. _Surely_ he must still be on Earth if the animals are the same, right? But if that's the case, how did the world change so quickly to become host to so many stranger animals such as those large black werewolf-like creatures in the forest? Why were cities suddenly walled in? As he walked into the city with the stranger that helped him, he noticed layers upon layers of defenses, as if they're trying _desperately_ to keep something out. And when did cars no longer need gasoline? They certainly weren't electric, he could tell that much. Sure, having humanity find a brand new source of energy is great, but for all he knew that could've taken years to find and implement to the scale he saw.

"What is this place?" he finally asked to Ozpin.

"This? Why, this is Beacon Academy," He said. "where people from all walks of life come to learn to become a hunter, or huntress. I am the headmaster here."

"Well, then where is everybody?" Steven asked, expecting people to be out here relaxing if that really was the case. He also had another unspoken question, but figured it would soon be answered later regardless if he asked about it or not.

"Everyone is at home, or in their dorms, or out on a mission more than likely." Ozpin replied.

'Dorms? What, is this some type of college or something?' Steven thought to himself. By now the questions were just piling up, so much that he was about to burst out in a panic attack, all of the stress in him ready to explode at all of this new information in such a short time, and after such a tragic event, where there were many more questions than answers.

"The next semester doesn't start for another three weeks from now, so things are generally quieter around here than usual." Ozpin said to him, trying to answer a question Steven _could've_ had in his head, which it was, but it was a _much_ lower priority of a question at the moment. "Up here." Ozpin said, pointing to what appeared to be a main door to the tower.

The pair then got into what was likely an elevator inside the tower, and then ascended up the tower. The two stood in silence as they went all the way up to Ozpin's office.

"I hope you're not afraid of heights." Ozpin said as the elevator doors opened to reveal a very wide open room with very little furniture other than a desk at the far end and two chairs, one behind it, probably Ozpins, and one in front of it. The room had an extremely high ceiling, and there were very large, grand windows all around it. As he looked up, he could see gears turning in a fashion that one would find in a clock, which was strange as Steven didn't notice a clock on the tower. As he got closer to the desk, he noticed that there was a similar scene happening under some green glass under the desk, and that gear and cogs adorned the desk as well.

"Please. Take a seat." Ozpin said, motioning to the chair in front of the desk.

Steven did as he was told, and sat in the chair with only a little hesitation. Ozpin then sat down in his own chair, then proceeded to put his arms on his desk, sitting forward in his seat towards Steven in a way of fascination. Steven was rather taken aback by this, obviously confused, and remained rather still, looking into Ozpin's eyes, unsure of what to do. The seconds that went by seemed like minutes until Ozpin finally spoke up.

"Relax. No one will hurt you." He said, reassuring Steven, who then proceeded to relax a bit with a deep breath. "I know you must have _many_ questions. Are you hungry?" He asked.

"Y-yeah… a little…" Steven said, confused at the seemingly random question. Ozpin then proceeded to press a button on his desk, simple and that's it, then looked back at Steven.

"Ask away." Ozpin then said, giving Steven a nod in encouragement.

"Man, where do I start?" He said, clearly overwhelmed. "I dunno, I should probably start off with, where am I?" He said.

"This is the City of Vale, and we're currently in Beacon Academy" Ozpin said, slightly confused, as he would think the boy would've figured that out from earlier.

"No, no, I know that, I meant more like what _country_ is this? Are we in the United States? United Kingdom? Hell, what _planet_ is this?" Steven said, his stress clearly showing. "Before I appeared in the woods I was with my family in our pickup truck towing our camper, and on our way up to New Hampshire, ready to go on vacation, when suddenly we hit a semi-truck, and we all _should've_ died. But then I woke up in that forest back there and I was completely fine, and my family was nowhere to be seen, and I just got more confused by the minute from there!" He finished, breaking into a light sob, the stress coming out.

"I see…" Ozpin said, before taking a moment to think of how to respond. "Well, let me start with this. Where do you _think_ you are?" He asked.

"I dunno, The United States of America? _Earth_?" He said, voice trembling.

Ozpin let out a sigh of sympathy. The boy was either crazy, or he genuinely has no idea where he is, clearly from a different place, and likely a different planet at this stage. "Well, we call our planet Remnant. Here there are no countries, only four kingdoms. This one is the Kingdom of Vale."

At this, Steven heard the elevator door open behind him. With his current state of mind, Steven could only think that it was a trap or something, Ozpin having led him here where he can't escape. He quickly stood up in his chair, and looked over to see a blonde woman, presumably in her 30s, with her hair in a sort of professional bun, a white dress shirt and black dress pants, and a sort of black cape behind her that was purple on the inside. Steven's head was darting back and forth between Ozpin and the newcomer with his hands outstretched as if they were both going to try to attack him, as he slowly backed away towards one of the windows.

Startled by the actions of the strange person in front of him, she quickly dropped the sandwich she was carrying, which Steven didn't quite notice, and grew very worried as she saw Steven pulsing red, his eyes switching between red and brown along with the pulse. She quickly drew out her riding crop, which was her weapon, and was often used as a sort of wand.

Seeing the weapon, Steven yelled "Stay back!" fear showing in his voice.

The woman quickly looked between Ozpin and Steven, as if to ask 'what should I do?' to him.

"Glynda, don't! Stop right there and put that thing away!" Ozpin snapped at her, then proceeded to look back at Steven. Glynda wasn't quite complying either. "We won't hurt you Steven, Glynda just works here at the academy. She's a combat instructor here. Trust me when I say this, but we have no ill intentions towards you!" Ozpin said, trying to diffuse the situation.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Steven said in response, the fear in his voice turning into hints of anger and rage, before flashing red, then instantly turning into a golden furred Sabre Tooth Tiger, backing up slowly, ready to pounce if need be.

Glynda gasped in shock at the sight of the stranger doing something that he clearly didn't know he just did. A few features also stood out to her on the large cat that just appeared in front of her. First and foremost, she noticed a blood red design on the creatures' face that was symmetrical on both sides that could only be described as tribal, and stood out visibly from the golden-brown fur. Secondly, the eyes of the large cat were now a blood red. Thirdly, white, bony spines began to protrude on the tiger's spine. All of these signs indicated to Glynda that Steven was some sort of Grimm, and that's all she needed to know. She then raised her crop as if to cast something, prompting a lion-like roar from Steven in her direction.

"GLYNDA! STOP THIS ISNTANT!" Ozpin yelled at his colleague. "He's just scared, confused, and afraid, and you threatening to attack him isn't helping!" He continued. Turning to Steven, Ozpin said in a calm voice, "Look, Steven, I know it may seem like we're trying to hurt you, but we're not. You have my word. I know you have no reason to trust me, but please calm down, and lets all talk this out." He said, trying to reason with him.

Steven, always being one to reason with, started to calm down. His eyes slowly returned to their natural brown, the spines retreating back into his body, but the red pattern on his face remained. He slowly relaxed into a simple standing position, still as a Sabre Tooth Tiger, still glaring at Glynda as if saying 'You heard him, put that away and let's talk'.

Glynda then relaxed, letting out a deep breath, then putting her wand away. At this Steven then transformed back into his human self, letting out a deep breath upon returning to his human state, trying to calm down.

"I know how confused you are Steven. Let's just talk, and I'll happily answer _any_ questions you have." Ozpin said, successfully defusing the situation.

Steven lets out a sigh, then replies "fine." Before walking back over to his chair, but still watching Glynda, who was watching him in amazement.

Ozpin makes a motion to Glynda, pointing towards the sandwich now on the floor, in pieces, and the plate broken. Glynda then uses her semblance to essentially repair the sandwich and plate, as if nothing had ever happened to it, and brought it back into her hands, and then proceeded to walk slowly towards Steven with the sandwich.

Nothing was said as everyone was watching Glynda, waiting to see what she would do. Steven was still very worried at what she might try to do. When she arrived next to Steven, she put the plate down in front of him, which is when Steven finally realized that there was what he recognized to be a turkey sandwich, with fresh lettuce and tomatoes. Upon placing the dish in front of him, Glynda then retracted her arms before saying. "It appears that we have gotten off on the wrong foot here." She said, with an apologetic expression. "I had no idea what you were doing, and I reacted naturally, and I apologize." She said sincerely. She then extended her right hand to Steven. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. I am the combat instructor here at Beacon." She said, calmly, and with a small smile on her face.

Steven stood up calmly, and took her hand and shook it. "I'm Steven… Steven Paxton…" he said, still watching to see if she tried to pull something. To his surprise, she did no such thing.

"Pleasure to meet you. Where are you from?" She said innocently, retracting her hand, not knowing of Steven's situation.

"I'm from Massa…chu….setts…" Steven said, realizing what he was saying and where he was once more.

Then Glynda realized why Steven acted the way he did. With a gasp in shock, she quickly said "Oh…. I'm _so_ sorry, I didn't mean to…" She tried to say before Steven cut her off.

"Its fine…" He said, looking down at the floor.

Ozpin then began "Steven here, doesn't know exactly know how he got here. He simply arrived in the forest directly after a tragic accident, inexplicably I might add. However, more interestingly, at least to me, is what he did when he found Grimm in the forest." He said, clearly intrigued.

" _Grimm_?" Steven asked, confused.

"Those black creatures you saw, we call them the Grimm. Grimm is the broad term we give to them, but there are many forms of them out there. The ones you happened to come across are Beowolves." Ozpin explained. "Glynda, come around her and see this" He said, motioning her behind his desk. Ozpin then pulled up a holographic screen, appearing to be a computer to Steven, and showed her _everything_ Steven did, from when he hit that first Grimm with the oak branch, all the way up until he changed from a T-rex back into a human right in front of the soldiers.

Glynda gasped at what she saw, amazed. She looked at Steven in amazement, but also concern. "How long have you been out here, in the forest I mean, before the soldiers found you?" she asked.

"I dunno, maybe three hours at the most?" Steven said with a shrug.

"Have you ever done anything like this before?" She asked.

"No ma'am." Steven said.

"That was the first time you've ever done such a thing?" she asked again. Steven nodded in acknowledgement, getting slightly annoyed. "Amazing…" She said under her breath.

Ozpin than said "It appears you have found your semblance, Steven. Something many people take _years_ to discover." He says, clearly impressed.

"My _what_?" Steven asked, confused once again.

"Every person on this planet has an aura, some stronger than others. It's an energy that is connected with the soul of everyone. Yours appears to be very strong. Aura's are very useful things, giving a shield to their owners, and allowing injuries to be healed quickly. Not everyone has their aura unlocked however, but it appears you didn't have that problem. Semblances are special and powers that your aura grants you, and is mostly only discovered by huntsman, used by them to give a strategic advantage, and is largely unique from person to person. Yours appears to be the ability to change into whatever animal you choose. In fact, I think you may also have a _secondary_ power as well." He added, impressed. Glynda was confused, but let Ozpin continue.

"Here, let's try something. Right now, I want you to try to turn into an animal, any animal. Just don't get angry." Ozpin said to Steven.

At this, Steven closed his eyes, then glowed red around his silhouette, before flashing red and turning into a beautiful, full grown husky in a sitting position on the chair. As Steven opened his eyes, Glynda and Ozpin noticed that his eyes were still brown, not red. They also noticed that he had a similar red pattern on his face as he did earlier, but different, unique to the different animal.

Glynda, realizing what Ozpin was getting at, took out her wand again, pointing it threateningly at Steven, causing his eyes to turn red again as he growled, spines coming out from his back and shoulders. She then retracted it, to see Steven calm down, and the spines recede and eyes revert to brown.

"Amazing…" she could only manage to say. She was simply speechless.

"It appears that when you combine rage or anger with your semblance, your power increases immensely, effectively giving you a second semblance, which is _unheard_ of. You truly are something special. I believe you may have a gift. You remind me of a **_black and red haired girl_ ** who the two of us met last week while she was **_fighting a bunch of robbers_** in the street. She was a very gifted fighter herself, just like you were back there in those woods. You two are actually quite alike now that I think about it. I think you two would get along very nicely. "He smiled at the thought. "Now tell me, I'm curious. Why did you choose a husky?" He asked.

At hearing the word 'husky', Steven suddenly panicked. Not realizing what he actually turned into until he looked down at his legs, and over to his back, he realized that he was indeed a husky, his favorite breed of dog. He always wanted one, so did his sister… and so did _Jenny_ …

Steven quickly gasped , then began to create a panicky whine, moving his head around below him, looking for something, before he quickly changed back to a human, still panicking.

Ozpin and Glynda look on confused and worried.

"Come on, _come on,_ where is it?!" Steven says to himself, frantically searching through his pockets until he pulls out his phone and his wallet, and then puts them on the desk quickly. He then frantically opens his wallet, and takes out two photographs. He then turned the pictures over to look at them, his hands trembling, and on the verge of tears.

"No…" He whispers. Steven then puts the pictures face down on the desk, and puts his head in his arms, and began to sob uncontrollably on the desk, letting go of the photos in the process.

Seeing that the two photos were the cause of Steven's current state, Glynda cautiously took the photos from the desk. Upon viewing them, she too grew teary eyed. The first picture was of his family next to a sign on top of a bunch of rocks. The sign read 'Mt. Washington Summit 6,288ft, 1,917M'. It was his family's and his favorite place in the world. The second was of Steven and another girl looking like they're the happiest people in the world, but the girl wasn't the same girl from the other photo. The girl had black, wavy hair that went down past her neck, and covered her left eye. She was slim, but seemed strong regardless. She had light brown eyes as well, some would say they were sometimes amber.

Glynda gently asked "Steven, who is this in the photo with you?" turning the picture towards him.

"That's…. Jenny" He said, now sobbing even harder. "She was….. She was my girlfriend…" He explained with great difficulty due to his crying.

All of the memories suddenly flooded back into his mind, and he couldn't stop from blurting out "We were the perfect couple. We were going to get married as soon as we could, as soon as we were old enough, then buy a home and have a few kids, then buy a husky because we both loved huskies." He said all at once, still crying uncontrollably.

"I- I'm _so_ sorry Steven, I didn't mean to-" Glynda began, but was cut off by Steven.

"No. its fine," He said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I need to be strong. Besides, maybe, just maybe, my family, and maybe even Jenny made it to this world just like I did."

This was enough to convince Glynda and Ozpin that Steven was in fact _not_ crazy, he was _not_ making this up. But the possibility that he was brought here from a wormhole was preposterous. Regardless, Ozpin knew that Steven was telling the truth.

"I admire your determination, Steven." Ozpin finally said. "I am greatly sorry for the tragedy that you have endured." He added sincerely. "I don't know how I can really help you that much, but I'd still be happy to answer any of your questions that you have.

Steven nodded in acknowledgement, now recovered from his sobbing. "You said that the creatures I fought in the forest were called the Grimm. I know you've already told me there are a bunch of different types of them, but why are they here along with the animals that I recognize from Earth? I mean, I saw a crow flying around when we got here, and we have tons of those back home." He asked.

"You saw a Crow?" Ozpin asked, suddenly on edge. Steven nodded in confusion. Quickly recomposing himself, he quickly said "never mind, that. Right, the Grimm. The Grimm are a group of creatures of unknown origin, and have been around since the dawn of man. We don't know much about them, but we do know that they only attack humans and faunus, and only choose to eat. They also evaporate upon death."

"Faunus? What are the faunus?" Steven asked.

"Faunus are like humans, only they have several animal traits, making them different. Some have ears of animals, others tails, or some less obvious traits, such as improved agility or hearing for example." Glynda answered. Her face turned to a face of disgust before saying "It is because of this reason they are often discriminated against, purely because they're different."

"You'd think that a new world with humans would mean that there may not be any racism, but I guess I was wrong when I thought that." Steven said, saddened by the news.

"What do you mean?" Glynda asked.

"On Earth, we just have humans as sentient life forms capable of living like humans. But we are often racist towards each other, mostly based on the mere color of our skin, no matter what kind of person they are on the inside. It's disgusting." He said, clearly shaken.

"I see…" Glynda said, clearly shaken as well.

On the bright side, Steven now knew why some of those people at those restaurants earlier had animal ears. Honestly, he couldn't think of a reason why someone would think that someone with something like cat or rabbit ears _wouldn't_ be cool. He thought it was interesting.

"One last question comes to mind." Steven said. "I saw these interesting stores all _over_ the place on the way here, they were labeled 'dust shops'. What exactly are those?"

"Ah, yes. Dust. An unlimited source of energy that we use for everything." Ozpin explained. He went on to mention how it was used for many things. As a straight energy source, as ammunition, a way to enhance weapons, a way to increase your power while using your aura, and all of the other numerous uses dust had in this world.

"Does that answer your question?" He finishes.

"Yes, and more" Steven said, chuckling a little.

"Good." Ozpin said. "Now, I have just a couple more questions for you."

"Sure, go ahead." Steven said, finally starting to eat his turkey sandwich.

"How old are you exactly?" He started with.

"17, and, assuming that your planet has four seasons, twelve months, and 365 days in a year, I'll be 18 in November." He answered. Ozpin grew a small smile at his answer.

"Interesting…." He said. "Tell me, what are your thoughts on becoming a hunter?" He inquired.

"You mean those people you mentioned to me earlier who defend what they believe is right? The same people that you train here at this academy? They're basically warriors, right?" He finished, then took another bite of the sandwich (which was really good, he couldn't lie).

"That would be them." Ozpin answered.

Before responding to his question once more, Steven finished chewing and swallowing his bite of sandwich. He then responded "Honestly, ever since I was a kid, I fantasized about joining my country's military on Earth, defending freedom and democracy." He fantasized, a small twinkle in his eyes. He truly did have the heart of a warrior, but he was somewhat afraid to admit it, as he didn't want to seem conceited.

"In that case, I have a proposition for you." Ozpin said, making Steven sit up in his chair, what bit of his mind that wasn't paying attention before was certainly paying attention now. Steven raised his eyebrow, signaling Ozpin to continue. "How would you like to join Beacon Academy and become a Hunter? Before I say anything, I do believe that you have what it takes. You certainly have the heart and the skill, you just lack training. Also, I don't mean to say this in the worst of ways, but the chances that the same thing that happened to you _also_ happened to your family are slim. I don't mean to be dismal or anything, but we could really use someone like you protecting those who cannot protect themselves. The only thing you'd need to do is pass the entrance exam, which I am confident you'll be able to pass."

Steven couldn't believe the opportunity he was just given. However, he took a minute to weigh his options, which were few, but important nonetheless. He could go to this academy on this new world, start a new life, make something of himself, and more importantly, become a _warrior_ , something he could only _dream_ of back on Earth, at least in the sense he dreamed it. But that would mean giving up on the search for his family, which he just _knew_ was out there, somewhere. But Steven knew that if he just went straight up to go and find his family, he wouldn't be able to survive out there forever, not without any skill or a weapon, and probably not with his semblance and aura, which he still didn't fully understand the concept of.

What he decided instead, was to go to the academy, fulfill his dream, but, as soon as he felt he had the knowledge or the training he thought necessary, he would go out and find his family. He made that promise to himself, and wouldn't allow himself to live without at least trying to find them.

"I'll do it." Steven answered with a look of determination in his eyes.

Ozpin saw much more than determination in his eyes as well. He saw the spirit of a warrior burning inside of him, one that he had never seen the likes of before. He knew this boy was capable of amazing things; it was just a matter of time before they started to show.

"Great." Ozpin responded, very happy with Steven accepting his offer. "And considering your situation, we'll provide you with a dorm room for you to stay in. You'll be alone for a while though, as the incoming students will be going in that building as well. There will be four beds, bud hopefully the other three will be filled with your future teammates once you go on your first mission, that is, if you pass your entrance exam."

"I understand. I will not simply accept being here without believing I have fully earned it." Steven responded, confidence screaming from his voice. "I believe in earning what you get."

"Now, there's just a few things we need to do for you before you can take the entrance exam. First off, you'll need one of these." Ozpin proceeds to give Steven what appears to be something very similar to his iphone right in front of him. However, this one was slightly larger, and was much thinner, the screen being a simple piece of glass. It worked in the exact way his Earth phone did though, which surprised him. And if you pressed the golden button on the bottom, it folded up, making it extremely easy to carry. This is why Steven loved technology. It's possibilities, capabilities, and uses are endless. You'll also want to invest in a weapon for yourself, one that you can keep and get used to, improving it when you feel necessary. You can either create your own, or buy one pre made. If you want to build your own, we will give you the proper materials. Otherwise we'll give you the money to purchase one, as you more than likely don't have any considering you just got here mere hours ago. Additionally, you might want to go out and buy some clothes and maybe some armor for yourself. It adds a layer of protection against you and the enemy should your aura become depleted temporarily."

Steven thought about this for a moment, weighing his options once more. "Luckily I do have a pretty good knowledge of weapons from when I was on Earth that I should be able to easily put to use, so ill build my own weapon. And you're probably right about the armor thing." He answered.

"It's settled then. We'll provide you with the parts and the tools, and we'll provide you with some money, a place to stay until you take the exam. Sound fair?" Ozpin concluded.

"Completely" Steven responded with confidence.

"Alright. Glynda will show you to your room and whatnot, and ill mark the location of the marketplace in the city on your scroll."

"Scroll? What scroll?" Steven said.

"It's the device I gave you earlier." Ozpin said with a chuckle.

"Oh," Steven responded with a chuckle as well. Ozpin then handed Steven a large amount of money to pay for his armor and apparel.

As Steven stood up to leave with Glynda Goodwitch, he stopped in front of Ozpin. "Professor Ozpin, you have no idea what you're doing for me means to me. I simply cannot thank you enough."

"No need to. You have great potential, and as the headmaster of this academy, I simply cannot see such talent got to waste." He replied without hesitation.

Steven extended his hand once more to Ozpin for another handshake, as it was the only way he could really show his appreciation. Ozpin gladly returned it.

"Now move along. You've got a test to work for, and a lot more to do."

"Right. I won't disappoint you." Steven said, before heading to the elevator.

Glynda then showed Steven to his room in the dorm. Within it was basic furniture. There were four beds, two desks, several bookshelves, some dressers, and a bathroom.

"Here's the key to your room." Goodwitch says to Steven, handing him said key. "If you need anything, or have any questions, let me or Professor Ozpin know. Don't hesitate." She added. Steven nodded in acknowledgement. She then started to leave Steven alone to do what he needed, but quickly turned around, "Oh, I almost forgot." Goodwitch then returned the two photos that Steven had in his wallet to him.

"I… don't know what to say…. Thank you." He finally said, taking the photographs, the only physical memory he had left of his family and lover, and also a physical reminder of what he was doing this for now. Steven extended his hand again to Goodwitch, as it was the only way he could really repay her.

She graciously accepted it before stating, "You're very welcome. I expect great things from you. I look forward to seeing you in my class next semester." She added before finally before leaving Steven alone.

Steven simply lay down on his bed, which he decided was the left most one, as there was no one around to protest, thinking about what had just happened that day. Tragedy turned straight into opportunity. Into a _future_ on this place that he had no choice but to now call his home. He was about to live the life he always dreamed of back on Earth, but with the goal in mind of finding his family once his skills were good enough to go out there on his own to find them. So much had happened in one day for him that he simply fell asleep where he was. He'd just start building his weapon tomorrow, he figured, and get some armor then too. He would also need to start training in the morning as well.

 _With Steven now on the path to becoming a hunter, his wildest dreams were quickly coming true, which was quite ironic considering how he got to where he was in the first place. The events that follow after taking on the challenge of becoming a hunter will make Steven the best person he could ever become, even on Earth. He will soon make friends that last a lifetime, and make plenty of memories that he wouldn't even trade for his old life back. Here, Steven's new life on Remnant is just_ _beginning._


	3. Chapter 3: A Second Chance

**Chapter 3: A Second Chance**

* * *

The next morning, Steven woke up fully rested, and ready to start the day. Today was the day he decided that he was going to begin seizing the opportunity he has been given in this brand new world. After eating in the food court, which was still open between semesters for the students that didn't leave, he decided to go out for a run, beginning his physical fitness training. While at the food court, he did try to minimize contact with other students, and sat by himself the whole time, not wanting to draw attention to himself. This was because his story would probably make people think he's crazy, and potentially make Ozpin look very bad. So he kept a low profile.

Even though Steven wasn't very athletic, he wasn't out of shape either, making sure to exercise at least twice a week back on Earth. He ran for a solid three hours, going for a total of about 15 miles in that time, which was great on his cardio, as he had never run that far so quickly before. He then did a lot of physical training; lifting weights, doing push ups, crunches, all of it.

* * *

After about six hours of his physical training, Steven then decided it was about time to go out and look at the marketplace to see what they had to offer for armor and apparel and such, but first made sure to take a shower. Because he didn't have any spare clothes with him, as he didn't expect something like this to happen obviously, he was given some school uniforms to wear until he bought some clothes. Putting it on, and looking in the mirror, he couldn't help but feel like he was already part of the school. However, he quickly stopped himself, and remembered that he still needed to _earn_ the privilege. He was not in yet, not by a long shot, but he could easily make it if he worked hard at it. Confidence flowing through him, Steven took his scroll, wallet, now with money relevant to this world, old cell phone, which he kept for the photos on it mostly, and the two photographs he had. He was not going to let those two photos get lost if he had a say about it.

* * *

On his way over to the marketplace, which was conveniently marked on his scroll so he couldn't get lost too easily, he took in the sights of the city. This city, 'Vale' they called it, was nothing like any city Steven had ever been to. It was larger than New York City, and had more people, but wasn't quite as high in the sky with dozens of skyscrapers. It had ports like Boston as well, but there wasn't one 'sketchy' area he could find. Not that Boston was sketchy, he loved that city, but every city has _those_ parts somewhere in them. This made Steven happy, as it seemed as if everyone lived in peace and harmony here. Something his world has never _truly_ seen, for many reasons. As he was walking through the city, he once again smelled the beautiful aroma of fresh baked goods, hot and delicious meals, and hear the sound of casual conversation as well, which brought a smile to his face. He wasn't eavesdropping or anything; it's that he loved to talk with someone casually in general. He could talk for _hours_ with someone about just about anything. However, he quickly realized that he was in a new world, which apparently hadn't completely set in yet. With a new world where everything that he knew was essentially gone, that also meant that he lost his dear friends. He was essentially starting his whole life all over again, except that he had already gotten most of an Earth education, as he had no idea what to expect from a combat academy like Beacon, and that he was 17, not 7 when he started grade school, where everyone else was feeling the same way as him; nervous, shy, and whatnot. However, thanks to Ozpin, he was able to get something to _start_ with to begin his new life; the opportunity to live the life he could only dream of on Earth. Sure, he could become a soldier there, but here he could become a _warrior_. However, with the opportunity came one huge drawback. He had no friends here anymore, he would have to make new ones all over again, which was really hard for Steven, as most of his friends found _him_. Not many people shared his interests, and often believed him for someone he wasn't. Thinking he was socially awkward or did nothing more than play video games. He wouldn't lie either, he played video games _a lot_ , but that's not the _only_ thing he did. He did plenty of other things too. It's not that he was socially awkward, he's come a long way in the last few years in high school, it's that no one was really willing to give him much of a chance. So he would have to make new friends again, which he hoped he'd find with the opportunity given to him.

By now, Steven had made it to the general marketplace. Here, mostly shops were located on the sides of the streets, and there were some small areas where there were vendors with carts for food, and ammunition some of them, which Steven thought quite funny. He would _never_ have seen anything like that at home, especially in a city.

Steven walked in to several of the clothing stores to browse and generally bought what he liked when he saw it, but made sure to keep an eye on how much he was spending. This wasn't his money, it was someone else's given to him, and he planned on returning every bit of it after he bought everything. Steven mostly bought t-shirts and shorts, some cargo, some akin to basketball shorts. He bought some PJ's, a few hoodies and sweatshirts, a rain jacket, some winter apparel, some jeans and sweatpants, some khakis, some underwear (obviously), and even a couple nice polo shirts and a plaid shirt with some suit pants just in case he needed to dress formally. Steven also bought some black combat boots for when he figured out what his combat gear would consist of, figuring they were a pretty solid choice compared to sneakers. Those were also a good option, but remembering that he may be out in the wilderness eventually, he would need something that would last awhile and protected his feet well, and boots were the better choice there. He also made sure to get steel toe, just in case he learned how to kick someone or something.

Steven then went into a couple armor shops, where they sold armor for hunters and huntresses alike, as well as other combat attire there. Steven was surprised to see that there was such a thing as _combat skirts_ in the store, wondering what the _hell_ made someone think that was a good idea was beyond him, but that wasn't his problem. Ozpin had told him the night before to not go overkill and buy armor that went head to toe, covering everything, as many people didn't have too much armor as it was, only some usually, and having too much would weigh him down. The way he figured it, Steven thought it would be wise to grab something that protected his chest and back, shoulders, and maybe knees, elbows, and forearms, but that was it. Those were important weak points after all. He decided that, yes, his head was too, but a helmet would probably be unnecessary as it would limit his visibility and hearing, as well as some of his other senses.

Steven took a while to browse, weighing his options carefully. He wanted something that was practical, that wouldn't inhibit his movements, that _worked_ , and was stylish enough to be unique, but not overkill.

After looking around for a bit, he liked a pair of black gauntlets that were adjustable in fit, as Steven planned on trying to get stronger in the next two weeks, with silver spikes on the bottom that curved towards his elbow. He saw that he could easily use it to grab onto things, parry his opponent, dig into something to catch him, or simply melee. There was also a plate that extended from the front to cover the top of his hand., as well as a spike-shaped part that protruded from the sides that would go over the elbow to protect it. He also saw a matching pair of leg armor that would protect his legs from his knee down to the top of his foot, which he noticed that part would fit snugly with his boots. The armor was sleek and shiny, with a beautiful design that made the armor look both badass and elegant. They were the same color as the armor itself though, but Steven decided that he could easily paint the accents with either a silver or dark red later. The knee guard came outward to fit the shape of the knee, and came out as sort of a rhombus, but the top end was longer than the others and came up a little past his knee, adding protection, and looking badass. They were fully functional, protecting both the front and rear of his legs, and it would easily work with the combat boots he bought earlier. He next noticed a nice combat belt with several pockets and slots for ammunition, both single rounds and magazines, and also had a round, circular plate to the side that was blank. Steven had no idea what it was though, but he bought it anyway, figuring it was some style related thing. He'd later figure out that it would be where he puts his emblem. He next found some nice fingerless combat gloves, which were black with a gray Velcro strap, and bought those because those were very practical. Lastly, Steven found the pièce de résistance, a black torso and some shoulder armor pieces that protected the entire torso, including the back, all the way down to a little above the waist, allowing no inhibition of the wearers' movements. The armor was custom fit, and featured some areas on the chest area where ammo or other tools could be stored, with a slight bulge in the armor outwards at the area. Around the neck area were some small, angled armor plates that protected strikes from above and around it, but in no way inhibited the users' movements or senses, or ability to speak. It didn't get in the way or cover anything except for most of the neck. The shoulders were also black, and both had different shapes to them, but matched nonetheless. They were clearly made for right-handed people as the right shoulder was boxy, but had many angles on it, so it appeared round, just not so much. On the outside of the shoulder, specifically on the plate that was relatively parallel with Steven's neck minus the slope it had, were two long, thick, and sharp spikes that curved outwards then back, able to block strikes from the side, and look badass. The left shoulder had the same boxy shape, only instead of spikes had a large plate that extended upwards, just not as much as the spikes, and curved a bit around the shoulder. The shoulders gave the user an appearance of having broader shoulders as well.

Steven thought for a second, wondering if he was going too overboard with the armor like Ozpin advised against, realizing that it was exactly what he was doing, at least with the chest and shoulder armor that is. The gauntlets and greaves were lightweight and practical, it was just the torso that needed something now. He decided to not get the armor he first looked at, instead buying something similar, only this one was a large breast plate that went down until it reached his abdomen, and covered his back equally. It was simple, but still matched his other purchases with its black color and details that he could later paint, and was practical. He also grabbed a matching pair of shoulder guards that were similar in look and color that only protected one side of his arm, this way they were light but still usable. If in the end the chest and shoulders were not enough, Steven would come back and buy them to replace these.

The last store Steven went into was a weapons store. Even though he already decided that he was going to build his own weapon, he still wanted to poke around to get an idea of what they looked like, and how they worked, so he could get some ideas flowing in his head. He was very taken aback when he discovered that many of the weapons there, which at first appeared to be guns, also had the ability to turn into various melee weapons, or doubled as melee weapons in general. There were pistols with blades on the bottom, SMG's that turned into small war axes, Sniper rifles that changed into war hammers! Steven couldn't believe his eyes. They were simply amazing. This got ideas flowing through his head, as he thought it rather simple as to how they worked like that. He could probably make an assault rifle that doubled as a battle axe quite easily, as assault rifles were very practical and versatile, and had good power behind them, and battleaxes, although long and slow, are very powerful if wielded correctly. However, Steven quickly decided against the battle axe idea, as it didn't fit with the versatile nature of an assault rifle, and instead thought either a broadsword or sabre or something of the like was a better fit.

With the idea fresh in his head, and with everything he needed now, he decided to get back to his dorm room to try on his armor and begin building his weapon.

* * *

As he tried the armor on, it was a bit of a loose fit, but he bought it specifically that way, as he expected to gain some muscle between now and his exam. Otherwise, it looked very good, however he decided it was too dark in some areas, so he painted small details around the armor, tracing the hard-to-see designs with a dark red, and making his own and painting those with a dull white. On his chest plate he created a design that greatly resembled an eagle with its wings outstretched in the center of the plate. It reminded him of both where he came from, and what he was doing. He was from the United States, land of freedom, home of the brave, but he was also now living an even _more free_ life than he had in the US in a way. He was becoming a warrior in the sense that he knew it, something that isn't achievable on Earth anymore. It also signified his bravery and courage, other common symbols given to an eagle. On both shoulder plates, he painted small American flags in the centers of the top tier plate, as there were essentially three plates, one overlapping the other, with sharp flared edges over the one below it, making sure to have all 50 stars and 13 stripes in their proper dimensions. He felt like it made him unique, as he was the only one on this world that knew the meaning behind that flag. It meant freedom, it meant bravery, it meant heritage, it meant courage, it meant democracy, but more importantly, it meant _home_.

Steven smiled as he finished the final touches on his armor pieces. He then decided to go grab some dinner at the academy's food court before he began working on his weapon, that way he isn't low on energy, and so he can focus. Once again making a low profile, he walked on down to the food court again and grabbed some food, but wearing his armor this time so he could break it in a bit. While in his armor, Steven now stood at 6'2". Apparently his armor choice was very good, as he noticed many people looking at him and his armor with looks of approval and even some of jealousy. Trying to keep a low profile, Steven tried not to make any conversation with anyone, only simply replying 'thanks!' to anyone that complimented on his armor. Finally getting to the food court, he grabbed what the meal was for the day; steak and mashed potatoes. It reminded him of home. His dad cooked steak all the time, and he just loved mashed potatoes. He brought his food back to his room with him so he could work while he ate, that way he could avoid as much social interaction as possible until he at least got _truly_ accepted here, and when people of his age group were around.

He began working on his weapon for the next few hours until he got tired enough where he decided it was time to go to sleep. His weapon didn't look like anything as of yet, but it was taking shape regardless.

* * *

The next couple weeks consisted of Steven waking up, doing physical training, and eventually putting his armor on for his workouts to get used to the feel and weight, also working on his combat moves and skills with a wooden sword. Afterwards he would work on his weapon. He made sure to grab meals in between as needed, but careful not to overeat. As the days went on, his weapon continued to take shape just like he imagined it, and it was working just as he intended.

After about those two weeks, Steven had completed his weapon, and had trained so hard every day that he was now muscular all around his body, now able to fit into his armor completely, and was in the best shape of his life. He wasn't jacked, but he was certainly strong, and appeared that way. Upon fastening the final bolt into the weapon, a wave of accomplishment washed over Steven, holding what he had just made from scratch in such a short amount of time, and it worked. Or at least it deployed. He hadn't tested it to see if it could shoot yet, as you're not allowed to do that indoors for obvious reasons.

His weapon was essentially a black M4A1, with the carrying handle, iron sights, adjustable stock, bolt catch button on the side, 30 round STANAG magazine, magazine release, manual bolt catch, dust cover over the ejection port, a tactical handguard with four rails, and all that good stuff, but it had some key differences. First off, on the side of the carrying handle was a button, when pressed, collapsed the carrying handle and turned it into a scope, allowing for medium to long range engagements. Second, there was a small magnetic plate he installed on the right side of the receiver around the mag well that was attracted to another magnet with the opposite pole that was mounted on the back of his torso armor, allowing him to put it on his back when he didn't need his weapon, and carry it easily. Thirdly, Steven painted on the side of the receiver another American flag on the magnet, and the mag well on the opposite side. He also painted a white wolf bearing its teeth on the majority of the receiver facing the barrel to personalize it some more. Lastly, and perhaps one of the features that stood out the most, was the shiny, silver blade made of steel that stuck out under the handguard, but didn't extend past the handguard. When a switch was flipped on the pistol grip, the stock would fold into a tube and then create a comfortable handle large enough for two hands, the barrel would retract, the ironsight on it folding as well, the handguard would shrink, the pistol grip and magazine would rotate and shift around, forming the broadswords' hilt, then the carrying handle would recede into the receiver, the blade in the handguard would pop out then extend outwards, revealing only half of a blade until it fully extended, before popping out the other half of the blade, finally completing the transformation. The gun was still functional as well; pulling the trigger, which was now on the swords handle, would fire the gun with its barrel perpendicular to the blade, but only in semi auto rather than full auto. The transformation of the weapon only took about one and a half seconds as well, which worked out perfectly. Not only that, but Steven had made the weapon so well, that the broadsword variant was so well balanced that he had no problems twirling it around in one hand. It was a two handed sword, but he could use it with one hand temporarily to spin around or parry while he does something with his other free hand.

Now that he finally had a weapon of his own, he needed to go out and test it, fine tuning it as needed, but he didn't have a lot of time to do it. His exam was only three days away, so any spare time Steven had was time he used to train with and get used to his weapon. And on a side note, he thought it would be a good idea to name it, as all of the weapons in the magazines he read in his relaxation time had their own names and such. Names like Miló, or Crescent Rose, and such. He couldn't think of anything good off the top of his head, so he just waited until he could think of a good name.

* * *

Steven headed outside to the shooting range and weapons area, where he could effectively test out his weapon. When he arrived there, he was not at all surprised to see many other students testing their weapons and honing their skills in anticipation for the next semester, which was starting next week, after the exams for the incoming first-years. All of them were at least second-year students as well, as no incoming students, other than him, were living on campus. So he tried to prevent bringing any attention to himself to avoid any awkward situations, with the pre-thought excuse of being an exchange student should someone ask him.

He went over and filled his magazine with the corresponding bullet sizes, 5.56x45mm, and also filled his spare magazines which he made and brought with him, and then proceeded to the firing range to test out the sights and performance of his weapon. He chose a spot on the line that wasn't next to anyone, once again to avoid interaction.

Steven took a firing pose, and loaded the magazine into the weapon, hitting it on the bottom, making sure he heard it secure itself in the mag well, before pulling back the hammer, opening the dust cover, and switching off the safety to semi-auto. Steven took a moment to control his breathing while aiming at the target, hesitating for a few moments praying that his precious weapon doesn't explode in his face, before pulling the trigger.

 **CRACK!**

The gun went off, firing the bullet straight at the target, ejecting the bullet successfully, and chambering the next, all without exploding.

It worked _perfectly_.

Steven, now with a wide grin on his face, was extremely happy to see his creation actually _work_. He adjusted his sights slightly to fix his accuracy a little, as the round landed slightly to the left. He then pulled the trigger again.

 **CRACK!**

The gun goes off again, successfully cycling once more. This time the round was a little high, so Steven adjusted the sights accordingly, before firing again.

 **CRACK!**

This time the round was right in the bullseye. His grin showed on his face while still aiming down the weapon. He loved the sound it made. He continued to fire on semi-auto until his magazine was about half empty. He then tried out his scope, pressing the button on the side, turning the carrying handle into a scope, and lowering the front sight a little bit.

Steven was unaware that much of the people at the firing range were watching him with astonishment and interest, some with awe and a couple with jealousy as he fired his gun, sighting in his scope now, completely zoned out to the world around him, all caught up with his beautiful creation.

Finishing the magazine, Steven then chuckled in happiness and enjoyment a bit, releasing the magazine in the gun with only one hand, letting it fall to the table, while grabbing a fresh magazine with the other, and putting it in the receiver, this time pressing the bolt catch button to chamber the first round, making a distinct and satisfying ' **click** '. He then switched the weapon over to full auto, and proceeded to fire the weapon in short, controlled bursts of about 3-5 rounds until the magazine was empty.

He then repeated his previous reloading process, and proceeded to hold down the trigger, firing a continuous stream of bullets at the target at about 750-800 rounds per minute, now peppered with 90 rounds. After finishing his last magazine, he switched the gun back to safe, and put the two spare mags in their respective pockets, and switched the scope back to the carrying handle.

"I see you're having fun with your new weapon." A familiar female voice said behind him.

Startled, Steven turned around to see Glynda Goodwitch, who had actually been watching him the whole time without him knowing, as well as seeing that most of the people around him were also watching him intently.

Steven could only smile as his red turned red from embarrassment at the realization, but quickly recomposed himself to not appear shy or anything in front of the others.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." He replied, looking at his weapon with a slight chuckle, which he was holding by the carrying handle.

"It's certainly very unique." She said with a sort of proud smile. "And I see you've been training hard for your exam. Good job." She said, with a nod of approval.

By now, anyone that didn't know he was a first year knew he was at the words 'training hard for your exam', which made everyone, who wasn't already, a little amazed at how he had just tested out his weapon that he created for the first time, that was extremely unique from the rest of theirs, and it worked flawlessly.

"I was just about to go try out the melee variant. Want to come watch?" he asked Goodwitch with a grin that signified that he was now basically showing off to everyone, but didn't dare look at anyone's face.

"You made a rifle that also turns into a melee weapon?" She asked, very impressed.

"Mmhmm!" Steven hummed in acknowledgement before holding out the weapon in a way that it was visible to everyone, then flipping the switch on the pistol grip, turning the rifle into a sleek broadsword right in front of everyone's eyes.

Some of them gasped, or 'ooooooh'd' in response, fueling Steven's pride.

Now with a grin on her face as well, she replied "sure." To his offer, and they both calmly left the firing range, Steven's gun still in its sword variant.

* * *

As the two of them walked towards the melee dummies, she couldn't help but ask him several questions that made her very curious.

"Mr. Paxton," she referred to him as, "What are those flags on your shoulders for?" she asked. As part of the schools procedure and protocol, she needed to make sure that any symbols that students had on their gear were not affiliated with terrorist or criminal organizations as to not advertise or condone them.

Looking at his shoulder in response, Steven then replied, "Oh, these? That's the flag of the country I came from on Earth," He said, careful to keep his voice down. "The United States of America, undoubtedly the best nation on Earth. We have the most powerful military, we live in a democracy, and we help the world as much as we can, as we believe it is our duty to protect nations that cannot help themselves, although sometimes we go where we aren't wanted, which is kinda awkward and strange of us, but still. We have the best economy, we have many allies, and we are constantly making new technological innovations every day to improve the world we live in." He said with pride. "Having the flag on my shoulders is a reminder to me of where I came from, and also shows that I am unique." He finished.

"I see." Goodwitch replied, having the kingdom of Atlas immediately jump into her mind, but she didn't say anything about it. "What have you decided to call it?" She asked.

"I don't know yet. I've been thinking about it ever since I put the last pin in the receiver, but I haven't thought up a good one just yet, unfortunately." He explained.

"And what about your emblem? Have you thought about that yet?" She further inquired.

"My what?" Steven replied with a confused look on his face.

She chuckled slightly at this. "Your emblem. See, look, mine is a tiara, and I have one on my cape." Which she pointed at. "And you have your plate there on your belt where it would be." She said pointing at the blank circular plate on Steven's belt.

"So _that's_ what that's for!" Steven said, finally drawing conclusions. "I get it now. In fact, I think I have a good idea as to what it will be." He said, now beaming with a smile as the idea came into his head.

"And what would that be?" She asked with curiosity.

"You'll have to wait and see." He said with a smirk.

"I look forward to it." She said, returning his smile.

They arrived at the practice dummies, where many students were busy practicing as well. Beaming with confidence with his new sword/assault rifle, Steven quickly loaded his las magazine into the sword version of the gun. He then proceeded to twirl and spin his sword in front of him and behind him, trying to be as stylish as he could because he was a showoff when he knew people were watching and he had a sense of pride within him, as he moved towards the target, striking the dummy gracefully and powerfully, his motions between strikes very fluid from his practice with the wooden sword before his weapon was finished.

Goodwitch was very impressed with the boy in front of her who merely entered this world a couple weeks ago, with no prior experience in fighting, becoming such a natural in no time at all. It was as if he had already gone through a combat school, and graduated at the top of his class.

As she watched him even more, she wondered what he was like against an opponent, before coming to an idea that she enjoyed the thought of very much.

When Steven stopped striking his target, and turned around, he saw Ms. Goodwitch with a bit of a wicked smile on her face.

"What? Is something wrong?" He asked her, slightly confused.

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering how you'd fight against a _real_ opponent is all." She said, somewhat tauntingly.

"Is that a _challenge_ I hear?" Steven responded, never one to back down from a fight.

"If you think you're up for it" She replied. "Don't think I'll go easy on you though"

"Oh, you're on." Steven responded, accepting the challenge with a smile on his face. "What are the rules?" he asked.

"First to the ground loses. No fatal blows, no wounding, no _low_ blows." She stated.

"Seems fair." Steven replied, totally ready for the fight about to happen, his sword already in a battle position. This would be his first fight with an actual opponent, but he had plenty of confidence in himself to do it. "Let's do this!"

* * *

A crowd started to gather to watch their combat instructor completely mop the floor with this kid who they've never seen before, thinking that he was so good. In reality, however, Steven knew his capabilities and his limits. He knew mostly of what he was able to do, and he had no idea what Goodwitch was capable of, but certainly did not underestimate her. Ozpin had even come out to see it, as he was coming anyways to check on Steven, but kept his distance, watching from afar undetected.

Steven could hear some of the older students cheering on Goodwitch, which he understood why, they knew her, and he didn't quite know her himself. This only served as a way to increase his confidence though.

He certainly didn't expect to win against Goodwitch, but he was going to try his hardest to stay up and put up as much of a fight as he could for as long as he could.

With that, Steven proceeded to twirl his sword with his right hand expertly before switching to his left hand, then grabbing the handle of the sword in front of him, sword pointing upwards towards his opponent while in a wide, ready stance, then looking his opponent in the eyes before saying "Your move". Allowing her the first move to see what she was capable of.

Glynda took out her riding crop and put it diagonal to her at her side, before using her left hand to summon purple glyphs, creating sharp projectiles in front of her in the air, before sending them off towards Steven with her riding crop by pointing it at him.

Steven quickly figured that she may be trying to distract him so she could come in with a knockdown blow while he was blocking her projectiles.

Glynda was very surprised as she saw Steven unexpectedly, and quite recklessly, run through the projectiles, shielding his face with his left hand, and dragging his sword with his right hand behind him. Once through the projectiles, he pulled the trigger of his sword, firing a round behind him, producing a bit of speed, as well as some momentum from the recoil to bring the sword back in front of him before bringing it down on Goodwitch, who quickly raised her riding crop to block him.

"Impressive." She said as they were locked momentarily in front of each other, before Steven jumped backwards to break the stalemate.

"I aim to please." He retorted, confidence evident in his voice.

Glynda now summoned more glyphs, this time walking towards her opponent while bringing in several projectiles and throwing them at Steven continuously.

In response, Steven twirled his sword in front of him in a circular motion, deflecting or destroying any projectiles as she walked closer.

As Glynda got right in front of him, she tried to feint him by going for his arm with her riding crop, but Steven saw right through her somehow, blocking her true attack, a kick aimed for his shin, with his sword, and blocking her feint with his right gauntlet.

Steven now had a sly grin on his face as he looked into Glynda's eyes, which worried her.

Steven pulled back the hammer of the gun, making a distinct ' **click** ', chambering the first round in the magazine, before pulling the trigger of his sword, the recoil forcing the sword up towards her side, catching her off guard as she tried to dodge it in time, but failed as it struck her, forcing her to stumble back, but not fall to the ground.

Moving with the momentum of his sword, Steven swung it around in a 360 spin, before trying to strike her again, this time in the shin.

But Glynda had expected something like that, and quickly blocked his attack with her riding crop, then quickly thrust Steven's sword away with one of her magnetic runes, disarming Steven.

Steven was astonished as the crowd went wild as the combat instructor was putting the new kid in his place, his sword now lying on the ground behind his opponent.

"Give up yet?" Glynda taunted him, her riding crop right in front of his face.

"It seems you've forgotten something." Steven said with a grin on his face. The crowd going silent as Goodwitch raised an eyebrow in suspicion, her smile wiped from her face.

Steven quickly jumped back, and as he did so, Goodwitch tried to strike him down out of the air, but wasn't quick enough.

Landing on his feet, Steven then glowed red around his silhouette before he flashed red, transforming into the same orange and red raptor with blue and yellow feathers he had become in the forest, letting out a roar as a taunt as he did so. His eyes remained their normal brown, signifying he was not enraged. The crowd gasped in amazement.

He then quickly charged forward with amazing speed towards his opponent, swiping his tail at her legs just like he did to the Beowulf in the forest, bringing it to the ground.

Glynda was able to dodge, however, jumping over the attack before throwing some runes all around Steven while she was in the air, forcing fire to come out of them directly at Steven.

She realized she made a _big_ mistake however, as Steven jumped out of the flames with his eyes blood red, a red design appearing on his snout, feathers ablaze, and spines beginning to protrude from his back, neck, tail, and arms, claws in front of him ready to pounce on her and bring her to the ground.

It was now or never for her. If Steven could land his attack on her, she would be on the ground, and have lost.

She waited for the right moment where Steven was close enough, his mouth wide open, showing his teeth as if ready for the kill, before striking him with force back down to the ground. Steven didn't expect so much force as he was sent back to the ground, forcing him to stumble greatly upon landing on his feet.

He couldn't recover quick enough before Goodwitch was right on top of him, kicking him in the shin and striking him on the side of the head, bringing him down to the ground. Her riding crop was now pointed directly at his face again.

Steven has lost.

But he accepted his loss, his eyes returning to their normal brown, and his spines receding, but the mark on his snout remaining, then returning to his human form.

The crowd cheered as they saw their teacher bring down the potential student to the ground. Some even yelling things like "You didn't stand a chance kid!" and other such remarks, none of which fazed him.

The two opponents stared at each other for a few moments before Glynda recovered her riding crop, and offered her free hand to Steven to help him up.

He took her hand, and shook it once back on his feet, as he was certainly no sore loser.

She then said to him in a voice that everyone could here, "That was the most challenging fight I've had in a long time." In a matter-of-fact voice.

This shut up anyone talking down Steven, as almost everyone there had fought her at least _once_ as part of her class, and she never said that about anyone. So that said volumes about this ' _kid_ ' that was standing right in front of them.

Steven then walked over to his sword and picked it up, flipping the switch, and returning it to an assault rifle, before putting it on his back.

"I think I know what to call it now." He said to Goodwitch, a small smile on his face. He took a moment before saying " _Der Befreier_ , which is German for _The Emancipator_."

"It fits it well." A familiar outside voice said before Glynda could say anything.

The crowd went silent as it opened up to reveal Ozpin, who had watched the entire duel, coffee mug in one hand with Beacon's logo on it, his cane in the other.

"It seems that you are very versed in combat Steven, I'm sure more than either of you two realized."

"I guess so." Steven replied, scratching his back in an awkward sort of way, as he had no idea that he was watching their battle. Glynda nodded, clearly happy with their battle.

"I look forward to seeing your exam results later this week." Ozpin said with a smile, then taking a sip of coffee from his mug.

"I'll be sure not to disappoint you." Steven promised.

"That's what I like to hear." Ozpin said before turning to Glynda. "We should probably get going now Professor Goodwitch, we need to prepare for the new first-years coming soon." He said.

"Of course." She responded, and then turned to Steven to say, "You fight well, and your spirit is strong. Keep training and you'll achieve _great_ things." She assured him. "Good luck on your exam" she said before turning to walk with Ozpin to get ready for the exams.

Everyone, still silent, then turned towards Steven with looks of amazement, a person who isn't even officially accepted into the school yet almost beating their combat instructor.

Steven smiled back at all of the faces looking at him, pride evident, before beginning to walk back towards his room for some rest.

* * *

That night, as Steven got dinner at the food court, he could overhear several people recounting the battle to their friends where were not fortunate enough to see it, pointing him out to them as they saw him walking through. He smiled at this, liking the positive attention, but was glad when no one came up to him. He's had enough attention for one day.

He overheard some of the girls talking about how attractive he was to them, but he only continued to smile and kept walking back to his room.

By his definition, he was still taken.

He was not going to forget Jenny so easily. Not for now at least.

As Steven sat down in his room and ate his dinner, he couldn't help but take out the photograph of himself and Jenny from his pocket, where he always kept it, and let out a sigh laced with sadness, a tear appearing in his eye.

But he couldn't let it bring him down.

If he had any hope of somehow finding her on this world, he would need to remain strong.

Yes, Steven knew it was basically impossible for that to happen, but he was an optimist, and knew that there was _some_ chance of it happening, even if it was astronomically slim.

With his stomach full, his weapon cleaned, and himself happy with the results from the day, he then etched his new emblem on the shiny, circular plate on his belt; a black raptor with red accents within a black circle, the black standing above the red as it was etched in such a way that the raptor was above the background. He then went to bed, ready to study for his upcoming exam later in the week.

He couldn't wait.

* * *

 _And so, as Steven went to bed, he had no idea what the coming days would bring. Soon he will be taking his exam, and entered into the school, where new friends and new opportunities awaited him. However, with his first day of school, it will be just like starting his life all over again, but this time on his own. His inability to make friends may or may not become a problem for him, but there was no way to tell until the time came. And little did he know that several others had somehow made it here from Earth as well. Jenny is one of them. But he would not discover it for some time, as she is outside of Vale at the moment._

 _Watch for_ _Chapter 4:A Fresh Start_ _coming within the next few days. Thank you for reading, and be sure to favorite or follow if you enjoyed. Don't be afraid to submit a review either._

 _-_ _ **SilencedSonic**_


	4. Chapter 4: A Fresh Start

**Chapter 4: A Fresh Start**

* * *

In the following couple days before his entrance exam, Steven made sure to exercise every morning, and go to the firing range for at least one hour before returning to his room to study for the academic portion of the test. He had to be honest, this is the hardest he's ever studied or prepared for a test in his life. Even harder than when he studied for his SAT's on Earth. He not only studied his academics hard, but he also prepared physically for his exam, as it was required for this test.

He studied everything from Trigonometry and logarithms to Remnant's Biology and Chemistry, and a little bit of Physics. However, he didn't bother looking into their history, as he forgot entirely that _his_ history was entirely irrelevant to this world now. Steven was a huge history buff, you could even consider him a nerd, but he loved it, he simply couldn't get enough of it. But in forgetting his new situation, he hadn't brushed up on the history of Remnant all that much, as it completely escaped him.

On the morning of the test, Steven woke up early. He got some breakfast from the food court and then proceeded to his room to pack what he had so he could bring it with him to the test. Ozpin messaged him on his scroll the night before letting him know that he would have to move out before the test until afterwards, which Steven understood. He packed all of the clothes he had and any other belongings he had, which wasn't much, and put it all in a large backpack that Steven had bought a week or so before. After he was done packing, Steven looked at what time it was. It was about 9 o'clock, and his test started at 11, so he had some time before he had to go. To pass the time, Steven practiced some motions and positions he could use in a fight, as well as brush up on some things that Steven had a little trouble with in his academics.

Come 10:30, Steven was all set, anxious in anticipation, and decided to head to the testing area, which in a small building on the outside of campus. On his way over, Steven couldn't help but feel excited. Today _could_ be the day his wildest dreams come true, it all rested on the test he was about to take.

* * *

Upon arriving at the building, he stood in line with a couple other applicants, awaiting his turn. The combat portion of the test was first, where he would then be directed to the academic portion regardless of his performance, as there were two parts of the test (combat and academics) that were equal in scoring. While he was waiting in line, he went over what he could do in some situations in combat, as well as making sure his weapon was all set and ready to go. There were only two people in front of him, so he wouldn't have to wait that long before he could go thankfully.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard the exasperated and loud groan of someone behind him, they were eager to take the test and wanted to get it over with, he figured. Steven turned around to see a tall blond girl with long hair and large lilac eyes. She wore an orange scarf around her neck, a light brown jacket over a yellow undershirt, her jacket was zipped up in a way that displayed her chest quite openly as well, and it ended above her abdomen, showcasing her stomach. She wore black combat gloves with what appeared to be a large golden bracelet on each wrist as well. Below her torso, she wore black short shorts with a small skirt that was more of a belt which was the same color as her jacket, and flared out at the bottom behind her. On her skirt was an orange flame shaped in the form of a heart, which he assumed was her emblem. She also wore tall boots that were the same brown color as her jacket and skirt, with orange socks inside of them, the left one being pulled up all the way, the right one being pushed down a bit, and also on her left leg, just above her boot, was a dull dark blue scarf or cloth around her leg.

Steven smiled at her for a second before saying, "You nervous?" trying to strike up a conversation.

"No, I'm just _suuuper_ excited!" the girl said with a giggle in excitement to show.

Steven chuckled. "Me too. My name is Steven by the way." He said, extending his hand in a greeting.

"Yang." She replied, shaking his hand in response.

"Nice to meet you." Steven said politely in a somewhat matter-of-fact tone. Steven felt much more comfortable talking to others that are in his age group, it just felt much better to him, so he wasn't as awkward in these situations.

"Likewise." She replied with a smile. Yang then looked over to Steven's gauntlets he was wearing as well as his boots, and asked with a bit of curiosity, as to continue the conversation. "A bit heavy on the armor, don't you think?" She said as she motioned towards his armor.

"Eh, I like to think that it's a reasonable amount. It may be a bit much, but I like it. It's unique, and it works well for me." He replied.

"Good answer." She said

"There was a wrong answer?" Steven said with a curious look.

"Well, sometimes people wear armor just to have it, y'know? Like as more of an image thing rather than a practical thing." She answered.

"I can see that." He replied. Steven then took a moment before motioning towards Yang's bracelets on her wrists. "Aren't you a little heavy on the jewelry?" he asked, trying not to sound like a jerk, but more of a way to continue the conversation.

"Oh, these? These aren't just _any_ bracelets. These are my weapons." Yang answered, bringing her wrist up in front of her before deploying them, turning the bracelets into gauntlets with what appeared to be shotgun shells around the circumference with a small barrel in the front of the now gauntlet. "They're also shotguns. I call them Ember Celica." She said with a proud smile.

"Impressive." Steven responded. He was truly impressed, he had never thought about such a combo, fists with shotguns all in just a gauntlet. It was light, but it packed a big punch, he was sure.

"Isn't a gun a bit of a bad choice yourself?" she asked, returning Steven's question towards him in a joking manner, pointing towards his M4.

"Oh, this?" He started, copying her response, causing her to chuckle a bit. "This isn't just _any_ gun. It's also a broadsword." Steven said proudly before taking the gun off of his back and flipping the switch on the pistol grip, turning it into a sword.

"Oooh, _fancy_." Yang said, equally as impressed at Steven's craftsmanship. "What's its name?"

"Der Befreier." He told her.

"I like it." She responded.

Before they could continue, Steven heard his name called, signaling it was his turn to take the test.

"That's my queue. It was nice meeting you. Good luck on your test!" He said, waving to her before turning around, heading to his combat test.

"Thanks! Good luck to you too!" Yang replied, waving her hand in response.

Steven than walked into the small building, flipping the switch on his weapon, returning it to an assault rifle, then putting it on his back.

* * *

As he entered the building, he noticed it was dark, and mostly empty. There were lights on the center of the room, but there was nothing there. As he walked towards it, the intercom came on with a familiar voice.

"It's good to see you've made it, Mr. Paxton." Ozpin said over the intercom. "Are you ready for your test?"

"I was born ready." Steven replied with confidence.

"Good." Ozpin finished in a satisfied tone. "Alright, the rules for your combat test are simple. There will be Grimm of different types coming out to attack you. Take them down in any way you can, preferably without destroying the building or course however. If you get knocked to the ground or pinned, your test is over. If you can successfully defeat the Grimm, you pass the test, and you can move on. The more Grimm you kill, the better your score. If you don't get all of the Grimm, do not worry, as not many people do. Any questions?" He finished.

"Can we get started?" Steven said confidently.

"Cutting right to the chase, are we?" Ozpin said, smiling behind the intercom. "Very well. Good luck Steven. Your test has now begun." He finished, turning off the intercom.

Steven took out Der Befreier in anticipation, scanning the room for his first enemy, switching the weapon to semi-auto. Soon a black mass with red eyes appeared in the corner of the room in the shape of a large boar with extremely large tusks. Steven leveled his weapon at it, waiting for it to make the first move. The boar let out a squeal before charging Steven, its head down, ready to strike him. Steven fired a few shots at the boar before somersaulting to the side to dodge the beast's charge, realizing his bullets were doing nothing to the armor on the creature.

Unfazed, Steven leveled his weapon on the creature again, scanning for a weak point. The boar then charged him again, this time however spinning very rapidly and hurling itself at Steven, much faster than last time.

With only a little time to react, Steven quickly put his gauntlets up in self-defense, stopping the boar from advancing any further, then pushing it off of him. The Grimm then did a regular charge once more, which Steven then dodged at the last second, kicking the Grimm in the side as it went by him, knocking onto its side. Steven saw there was no armor on its underside, and quickly fired a few shots into the beast's stomach.

The Grimm quickly began to fade, evaporating into the air.

No sooner had the Grimm started to disappear before two more of the same creature came out charging at Steven from opposite directions. Noticing they were both heading straight towards each other, Steven jumped at the last second, causing the two creatures to collide with each other, stunning them, allowing Steven to land on his feet and sneak some shots into the sides of each beast where they were unprotected, killing them both.

Steven then looked to each corner to see a pair of blood red eyes in each, higher up than the boars he just fought.

Four Beowolves walked out of the corners simultaneously, one of them howling in the air.

Steven switched over to his broadsword, putting it in a ready position.

He knew he had to strike first, otherwise risking them getting the first hit on him, potentially allowing the rest to hit him in turn.

Steven lunged for the legs of the Beowulf directly in front of him, causing it to fall to the ground. Steven then quickly continued his swing upwards to strike the Grimm in the neck, severing its head in the process.

The other three Grimm were now angered at the sight of their fallen comrade, and the three quickly charged Steven.

Steven was able to deflect a strike from one of the Beowolves, but was unable to block the punch from another one, then a slash from the third. Steven stumbled back, reconsidering his options. He couldn't take all three at once, not like this.

One Beowulf ran in front of the other two, looking to strike Steven first, which he capitalized on. As the Beowulf brought his arm down on Steven, he quickly fired his sword, giving him a bit of momentum in his swing, swiping his sword upwards, cutting the creature's arm off. Steven then took advantage of the creature's recoil in pain to swing at one of his opponents unguarded legs, cutting it off above the knee, bringing the creature to the ground, before stabbing it in the center of his chest, killing it.

As Steven took a look at his other two opponents, slowly boxing him in a corner, a terrifying chill ran down his spine as he heard a low growl behind him. Before he could react, a large bear-like creature picked him up with one hand, and tossed him across the room.

Remembering that falling to the ground would end his test, Steven tried as hard as he could to land on his feet, just barely doing so, stumbling into the wall, keeping him up. Realizing that his sword may not work in this situation, Steven decided that now may be a good time to use his semblance.

With a flash of red, Steven turned into a large Grizzly Bear, with the red design appearing on his head and snout, and a little on his neck. Letting out a challenging roar on his hind legs, Steven _dared_ the Grimm to come get him.

The opposing bear-like Grimm took his challenge, throwing his two other comrades to the side, actually killing them with the force, then charged at him.

Steven held his ground, and when the two met, they were both standing on their hind legs, their arms locked in a contest to push the other over to get a blow on them. Quickly realizing they were in a stalemate, the Grimm decided to quickly thrust forward and bite into Steven's left arm.

Steven reeled in pain as the colossal bite force of the Grimm was far more powerful than he could have thought possible. This only enraged Steven, who, much to the Grimm's surprise, grew spines on his neck and back as his eyes turned blood red. His strength increased, and he viciously swiped at his enemy several times, one right after the other, taking skin and flesh with each blow, until there was no more left to take, and the Grimm's limp body started to evaporate.

Seeing he has achieved victory, and that there were no more Grimm approaching, he triumphantly roared into the air before returning to all fours, and proceeded to calm down before returning to his human form.

Ozpin silently watched him, noticing a very important, but subtle detail. The red design on all of Steven's forms with his semblance so far have had the same or similar red marking on its head, but on the bear, it spread to his neck, which was quite peculiar. He made a mental note of this before turning on the loud speaker, saying "Good work Mr. Paxton. You've completed your combat portion of your test with flying colors." After a momentary pause, he continued "You may now proceed to the library for the written portion of your exam. Oh, and please send in Ms. Xiao Long, would you? I believe the two of you have already met."

"Will do." Steven simply replied before walking out the way he came.

* * *

Upon exiting the building, he walked over to Yang.

"How'd you do?" She asked.

"Aced it." Steven said proudly. "You're up." He told her, patting her on the shoulder in encouragement. "Good luck. You'll need it." He finished.

Yang chuckled. "The only thing _I'll_ need is a mop to clean the floor when I'm done." She said before giving him an evil smile.

Steven chuckled in return. "I'll see you around."

"See ya!" She replied before heading into the building Steven was just in.

Steven then turned around and proceeded back into Beacon, his backpack still on him, and Der Befreier on his back, unloaded, having returned the rounds to his ammo pouch for safety reasons.

* * *

Upon arriving there, he was greeted by Professor Goodwitch, who smiled at him upon his arrival.

"Good day Mr. Paxton. Here is your test." She handed him a closed booklet and a couple of pencils. "You may sit anywhere you like. Once you have finished, hand me your completed test, and you may go to the waiting area off campus where you will be picked up should you get accepted." She instructed him.

Steven took the booklet and pencils and headed over to a secluded desk in the room, and began working on his test, filling out the information on the cover first, and then opening it up to begin. Steven was surprised as most of the questions that were on the test were combat related, including, but not limited to, what the best course of action is in a given situation with four choices to choose from. This was essentially a test based on logic, not intelligence, which somewhat upset Steven, as he had studied so hard for a completely different test, which apparently didn't even require studying. He looked around the library from time to time, seeing that some students were struggling somewhat. Some would get up and finish, some would come in, sit down, and start.

After about 45 minutes, Steven had already finished. It was just _that_ easy. And it surprised him, as most of the people that were there when he arrived were still there, working on their tests. He was beginning to wonder if in fact the test did have what he studied for, but that Goodwitch gave him a different test than the rest of the applicants. As he handed the test to her, he didn't say anything, as everyone would hear and he didn't want to make a scene. He'd address it later with here if there became an opportunity.

Steven left the library with all of his things and went to the landing pads, where he would hitch a ride on one of the airships he saw on his first day here on Remnant over the forest, to go to the waiting area in the station within the city.

* * *

Once Steven had arrived at the station about an hour later, as the ship's captain waited awhile for the ship to get a little fuller before taking off, he simply sat down on a bench, and instantly dozed off.

As Steven dozed off, a little 15 year old girl with dark red and black hair, silver eyes, and wore a red and black combat skirt with black boots and a red hood, sat down on the bench to the left of Steven's, waiting for her older sister to come back from her tests, waiting to eagerly tell her some good news she has been keeping from her as a surprise.

No more than 30 minutes later, Steven was awoken by someone yelling _"YAAAAAAAAANG!"_ followed by a little girl running towards the girl Steven had met earlier, then jumping on top of her.

Falling to the ground as her younger sister practically pounced on her, Yang let out an 'oumf' upon hitting the ground.

"Ruby… please get off…" She said, her voice muffled by her younger sister's body in her face.

Her younger sister then jumped off enthusiastically, saying "Sorry", then giving her a broad smile. "So how'd it go?"

"The combat portion was _easy_ , it's the written part that I'm worried about." Yang told her younger sister Ruby, and the proceeded to sulk when she started to talk about the written portion. "The math was easy, it's the _physics_ that got me" She explained, rolling her eyes at the word 'physics'.

Steven's theory about 'receiving a different test' was confirmed by Yang at this moment, and he made sure to make a mental note to talk to either Goodwitch or Ozpin the first chance that he got. He was not happy about being treated differently just because he came into this world a mere three or four weeks ago. He didn't like special treatment in this way, it annoyed him.

Ruby chuckled, then proceeded to say "That stinks. _I_ didn't have to take any tests." Ruby said with a triumphant look, hands on her hips to add to her triumphant pose.

"Well, _yeah_ , of course you didn't, you're not old enough to go to Beacon yet" Yang replied with a chuckle. Ruby only responded with a pleasant smile. It took a minute for Yang to realize what Ruby was trying to tell her, before letting out a very happy squeal, before hugging her little sister, and picking her up in the process. "RUBY YOU GOT INTO BEACON?!" She asked excited.

Ruby gave a muffled hum of acknowledgement, barely able to make any other sound due to the strength in her sister's hug.

"How?!" Yang said, finally releasing her younger sister, surprise clearly in her face.

"So you know how I fought that Roman Torchwick guy a few weeks ago that one night?" Ruby began.

"Yeah."

"Well, apparently, I did so well that Professor Ozpin saw me and then when he talked to me afterwards he asked why I was so good so I explained to him that I wanted to become a huntress more than anything and I went to Signal and how Uncle Qrow taught me everything and then he asked if I knew who he was and I said yes and that I knew he was the headmaster at Beacon and how I was going to apply there when I was old enough and then he asked how badly I wanted to go to his school and I said _more than anything_! And then he was all like "well, okay" and then I was in and now I'm here telling you now because I wanted it to be a surprise!" Ruby finished, having said it all in one continuous go, yet appeared as if she wasn't even winded, which was quite impressive, Steven couldn't lie.

However, this made Steven think back to the day he met Ozpin himself and took him into his office, eventually telling him about how he let in a 15 year old girl with silver eyes and dark red and black hair, which made Steven realize that this little girl must be the one he was talking about, considering her story, which she practically _yelled_ in excitement, and her description.

"That's _so_ amazing Ruby!" Yang said with excitement once more. "Oh, I can't believe my baby sister could be going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!"

"Please Stop…" Ruby let out as Yang hugged her tightly again.

"But I'm so _proud_ of youuuu!"

"Really sis, it was nothing."

"What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees!" Yang said excitedly

"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees' okay, I don't want any kind of knees, I just want to be a _normal_ girl with _normal_ knees." Ruby said, putting her head down for a moment.

"What's with you? Aren't you _excited?!"_

"Of course I'm excited I just… I got moved ahead two years, I don't want people to think I'm special or anything." Yang then comes over next to Ruby and wraps her arm around her neck, putting it on Ruby's shoulder in a reassuring hug.

"But you _are_ special."

Before their conversation could continue, a tone played through the intercom system.

" _Attention all applicants to Beacon Academy. All tests have been scored and statuses of admission have been posted. Please check the nearest board to see if you have made it in to Beacon Academy. If you are lucky enough to have been chosen, then make your way onto the corresponding shuttle next to your name on the board. Thank you for applying!"_

The voice ended with the same tone as before it started.

"Ooh! Let's go see if I got in Ruby!" Yang said, now all excited. With that, the two walked over to the nearest board to see.

Steven then got up as well, going to a board that was on the other side of the hallway from them, as he didn't want to make it awkward with yang and all. He had a history of doing stupid shit because he didn't know any better.

After waiting for the crowd to die down enough where he was able to go and check for his name, he certainly found it, bringing a large smile to his face. Next to his name, it said 'Shuttle 7' so he proceeded to walk on over to where the shuttles were, which were the same large airships, and wait for number 7 to start boarding. Steven could also tell that Yang and Ruby got the same shuttle, as both of them yelled in unison "shuttle 7!" before jumping in the air for a high-five.

As Steven waited in line, he heard the two of them walking together over there, and with Steven being the only one in line for shuttle seven at the time, Yang couldn't help but notice him there, waiting.

"Oh, hey Steven! I see you got in to Beacon too!" She said, waving to him.

Steven turned to her. "Yep. Got in with a straight 100, surprisingly." He added, because he was given the easy test, but he kept that a secret for now.

" _WHAAAAT?"_ Yang said with the most ' _how-the-hell'_ faces Steven had ever seen.

Steven simply shrugged, pretending like he was just as surprised as Yang. Steven then looked over to Ruby. "And who might this be?" Steven said, looking at Ruby.

"This is Ruby, my younger sister!" Yang said quite enthusiastically.

"Hello Ruby, nice to meet you." Steven said before noticing that Ruby was staring intently at Steven's torso.

Yang nudged Ruby in the side with her elbow. "Ruby! Manners!" She whispered loudly.

Ruby then snapped out of her trance, and awkwardly said "Hai!" with a small wave. "I- I'm R-Ruby, Ruby Rose." She said with an awkward smile now beaming on her face, extending her hand towards Steven.

Steven shook it in response. "Nice to meet you." He said once again.

Once they both withdrew, Steven asked Ruby "So, are you going to Beacon too? Cuz you seem a little young to be going here."

"I am, I'm only 15, but Professor Ozpin let me in personally." She replied with a grin.

"Well then, congratulations!" Steven said with a grin as well.

A few silent moments passed until Ruby started to ask sort of awkwardly, pressing her index fingers together repetitively. "Sooooo, what's that on your back?"

"What, this?" Steven said, now realizing what Ruby was staring at before, taking out Der Befreier and held it with both hands as if he was about to present someone with a sword in ancient Japan, just without the kneeling and head bowing thing.

"Yeah…" Ruby said, her mouth wide open and her eyes staring at it intrigued.

"This is my weapon, Der Befreier. It's an assault rifle that I custom built and painted." He answered. "It has a 30 round magazine, and fires 750-800 rounds per minute. I can also press the button here on the side of the carrying handle," which he proceeds to do, "and it turns it into a scope."

"Ruby, you'll like what he has to show you about it next" Yang said to her sister with a smile.

"What?! What else does it do?!" She eagerly asked, the anticipation killing her.

Steven then flipped the switch on the pistol grip, turning it into the broadsword.

" _Woooooooooah_ " Ruby said, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

"I can tell you like weapons" Steven said with a chuckle, before turning it back into a gun and putting it back on his back.

"Yeah, it's kinda my thing." Ruby admitted.

"So what is _your_ weapon? Yang already showed me hers earlier before the combat test." Steven inquired.

Ruby then took out her weapon from behind her, appearing to be a simple red bar for the most part, before pressing a button, causing it to unfold into a scythe that is larger than her. Steven whistled in amazement. "I call her Crescent Rose" She said, stroking a hand down her weapon affectionately.

"Wow. That's one heck of a weapon. What else does it do?" Steven asked, interested.

"It's also a fully customizable, high-impact sniper rifle." She said with pride.

"That's _really_ cool, like, you have no idea."

Ruby giggled before saying "thanks." And then smiling. Steven seemed to cheer her up from her conversation with Yang earlier.

Then the voice over the intercom came on again, this time saying; " _Attention, all students on shuttles 1 through 7 please begin boarding the ship. That's shuttles 1 through 7, please begin boarding."_

As if right on cue, the doors to the airship opened up, letting the passengers inside.

"Alright, I'll leave you two alone, I don't want to keep pestering you. I'll see you guys around Beacon." Steven said before waving to his two new friends, and entering the shuttle, and proceeding to the front of the ship.

"Bye! See you later!" They both said in response before boarding the ship themselves.

* * *

Throughout most of the flight, Steven mainly just stood around looking out one of the windows the whole time. Next to him was a large holographic screen that was on what he assumed to be the news channel, and they were talking about some group known as 'The White Fang', which he assumed to be some terrorist group or something. However, it soon turned off, prompting Steven to turn around to look at it, when a familiar woman appeared in its place.

" _Hello and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsman and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."_

And just like that, she quickly fazed back out.

'Well that was certainly an interesting introduction' Steven thought to himself.

All of a sudden people were 'oooh'-ing and 'aaaah'-ing out the window collectively even though they could've been looking out it the whole time.

All of a sudden a blond guy in a black hoodie wearing white armor and jeans carrying a sword and foldable shield puked on the ship, and it made him laugh a bit.

* * *

Soon, the ship landed on the same landing pad Steven took to get down from there. Steven stepped out of the ship with most of the crowd, and went over to the center of the area and just stood there for a moment, soaking it all it. Now, he could feel like a part of the school. He's _earned_ it this time. It was almost like he was already home.

Steven then continued with the rest of the mass of people into the school to what appeared to be some sort of auditorium, just without seats. People began to file into lines in the room. Steven assumed that they were here to wait for some sort of presentation or something, so he just went with the flow, so to speak, and decided to wait towards the back of the room in the middle section.

He waited awhile before it began to fill up a bit more. He didn't bother speaking to anyone though, as everyone else was already talking with their friends that they've probably known for years. It reminded him of his friends from home, but Steven quickly suppressed those feelings for now, not wanting to make a scene by accident when he doesn't realize it.

However, soon a tall girl with emerald eyes, and long red (literally) hair moved in beside him, waiting like everyone else. She wore a top consisting of two layers. The top layer was a light-brown, strapless top split divided vertically with some bronze patterns. The top layer seems to have some kind of riveting or small, round embroidery on the sides, which may also be heavy stitching. The bottom layer is a low bronze V-neck. She also wore an elastic, black, A-line miniskirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms. She wore a red ankle-length drapery that appeared to be wrapped around her skirt. There was a small circular bronze plate by her right hip opposite two pouches with both connected to a belt. The plate bears a "shield and spear" which Steven guessed to be her emblem. She wore a bronze circlet headpiece that could be seen above her ear and under her bangs. A pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds hang from her circlet on thin chains. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck, and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm. She also had elaborate bronze greaves that start below her mid-thigh, continuing downwards into her boots and a pair of cuisses that begin mid-thigh and end slightly above her knees. She also donned a bronze bracer on top of the sleeve on her left arm. She wore high-heeled boots that were brown with bronze trim, matching her skirt and sleeves, and reach up to mid-calf.

The girl seemed to notice Steven noticing her move in next to him, and decided to not be a stranger.

"Hello. My name is Pyrrha Nikos." She said with a smile on her face, extending her hand towards Steven.

"Hi. My name is Steven Paxton. Pleased to meet you." He replied, shaking her hand.

After that they simply stood there facing towards the slightly raised stage, really. There wasn't much to talk about or anything. However, there were some questions going through Pyrrha's head that intrigued her about Steven, such as how he didn't react to being standing next to _the_ Pyrrha Nikos, the world renowned champion fighter of Mistral. When others met her, they wouldn't leave her alone. She liked how Steven didn't appear to know her; she doesn't really like the attention. And even if he did, he didn't seem to care. This made her smile on the inside.

After a minute, Steven noticed Yang not too far away yelling over to Ruby, signaling to her where she is. He saw Ruby go over to her older sister after parting ways with the blond guy who threw up on the ship, then appeared to have some sort of small nervous breakdown. Then a frighteningly pale girl with white hair in a white dress snuck up on her and scared the living crap out of her. Frankly, Steven would have been scared too if that happened to him. The pale girl the appeared to be harassing Ruby a bunch, which looked really wrong to Steven, and, he'd admit, it made him a little angry, and he was about to go over there and help her out, but Yang seemed to have it under control.

Then the sound of a microphone turning on silenced everyone, as Professor Ozpin appeared on the stage, with Glynda Goodwitch next to him.

" _I'll…keep this brief…"_ He began, pushing his glasses onto his nose. "You have travelled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far. It is up to _you_ to take the first step." He finished, rather ominously. He then stepped to the side, and began to walk away from the stage, Glynda Goodwitch taking his place.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." She finished.

Instantly everyone began to chatter amongst themselves once more. Steven, however, wasted no time in heading to the designated ballroom.

* * *

It was now about 9:00, and everyone was in the ballroom with their sleeping bags laid out around a place near their friends. Steven sat alone on the edge, not wanting any attention, where he could be secluded in his thoughts. He could have easily made some friends, he knew how to do that, but he didn't want to just now. He was excited for his first task tomorrow, and he overheard the other students talking about rumors of how the next day would be the day that teams are assigned. Steven couldn't wait to have a team to call his own. They'd become best friends, and be great in the sense they share a more brotherly bond rather than a friendship bond, as that's what often happened to brothers in arms, they become more than just friends, they became a family, which Steven didn't even know if he had anymore at the moment.

However, the more important reason as to why Steven was trying to be alone was because seeing Yang and Ruby together before getting on the shuttle made him think of his sister and him. They acted similarly around each other. His sister was older than him by four years, and had plenty more experience in the world than he did. They also made him think of Jenny, however, as she often was very nervous about things, and Steven was always able to help her out whenever she needed help with _any_ of her problems. He was always there for her, just like Yang seems to be for Ruby.

Steven knew no one was paying attention to him, so he took out his two pictures and looked at them, grasping them tightly, but not too tightly as to not ruin them or damage them. Steven felt the tears flow down his eyes, but he tried to stay as silent as possible, as he didn't want anyone to come over for sympathy, either believing he was homesick, a crybaby, or sore over 'losing his girlfriend', or some other reason, because they don't know what _really_ happened, and Steven sure as hell wasn't going to explain it to them. Hopefully soon he would finder, 'you never know' he kept thinking to himself, 'you never know'.

Steven was unaware as to what was going on in front of him, having no idea that Ruby and Yang were actually no more than 30 feet across the room from him, but they had no idea either, thankfully for Steven's sake. Or at least, he didn't notice they were there until a few minutes later when Ruby and Yang started yelling at each other and stuff, before the pale girl with white hair came stomping over to them again, yelling at the two of them this time.

Steven really wanted to do something to help them, but didn't want to make any bigger scene than was already created, nor let them know it was him. Steven then remembered his semblance, and as long as he wasn't angry or enraged, he was easily in control of his actions. So, slipping the pictures back into his pocket of his PJ's, Steven decided to turn into a husky, then proceed to walk on over to the three fighting, coming up from in between Yang and Ruby undetected. He came in doing so growling, getting progressively louder as he got closer to the pale white haired girl. Once in between Yang and Ruby, still undetected somehow, Steven began to bark at the girl. Now his presence clearly known, the three girls stopped bickering to look down, unaware that it was Steven. Apparently Steven was doing such a good job at what he was intending to do, that the girl slowly began to back away, her eyes wide open with… fear? Steven was doing a great job at scaring people, but too much, as he forgot about the red design on his head that Ozpin told him he had, that now spread further to his neck and down the sides of his head rather than just the top. Steven stopped growling and barking at the girl when he noticed the fear in her eyes. He wasn't trying to scare her into fear, just to back off from his friends. But when he looked around, _his_ eyes grew in fear. Not only was the white haired pale girl afraid of him, but there was a black haired girl with a black bow on her head on top of a table practically frozen in fear, and Ruby and Yang didn't look much better either.

He didn't really know it yet, but not only did they think he was a dog that came out of nowhere, but they also thought he was a Grimm. The red design made them think that way, the only thing that wasn't immediately convincing them was the lack of red eyes, they were still brown thankfully.

Steven began to whimper, putting his head low to the ground, appearing sad and regretful of his actions, looking up at Ruby and Yang with puppy dog eyes in an apologetic manner. Yang, realizing that the dog meant no harm, cautiously bent down to pet it behind the ear.

Upon doing so, Steven began to relax, and Ruby, realizing that the dog was truly friendly, also began to pet it. Steven stayed apologetic, especially since he knew they had no idea who he _really_ was, and that he made a dumb decision.

"He's so cute!" Yang finally said. "He reminds me a bit of Zwei!" Ruby chuckled in glee as Steven got on top of her stomach and began licking her face, making her laugh.

"Ugh! You people are among the _strangest_ I have ever seen!" The White haired girl said. Steven looked over to her and growled, causing her to back off, before returning to playing with Ruby and Yang.

Ruby and Yang then decided to take him over to their sleeping bags, where he laid down in between them and pretended to go to sleep, so he could get out of there as soon as possible. Eventually, Ruby and Yang went to sleep, allowing Steven to stealthily go back to his own sleeping back not far from there, and change back to a human while in his sleeping back, masking the light he created every time he changed. He then made sure he still had his pictures in his pocket, before taking one last look at the one with him and Jenny, before putting it back in his pocket.

In Steven's defense, that pale girl was practically _bullying_ Ruby, and that was ridiculous. However, Steven had neglected to realize that he himself looked Grimm whenever he changed into a different animal, or at least that's what he was told.

Steven put that at the back of his mind, instead focusing on his new rule: never to use his semblance to protect someone like that again unless they _actually_ needed to be protected. That way, no one knows his semblance, no one asks questions, and no one hurts him without realizing who he is. He will only save someone if they absolutely need it, that's it. And with this declaration in his head, and from being tired from the day he had, he fell asleep once more, excited to hopefully get a team tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning, Steven seemed to have successfully played off his stealth escape, as Ruby and Yang were confused as to where the dog went. Steven then got up and went to the bathroom to get himself ready for the day ahead of him, getting cleaned up, putting on his armor, readying his weapon, all that good stuff, before going to eat breakfast with everyone else.

Afterwards, they all headed to a locker room where they were all assigned lockers for their gear. Steven was given locker number 637, right next to the blond guy who threw up on the ship the day before. As the blond walked to his locker, Steven was already in his, filling his magazines. The boy then opened his locker, looking rather done with the day already.

"Ready to get out there?" Steven asked, still focusing on his magazine.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess so" the boy replied, rather defeated.

"I know you're probably nervous, but if it makes you feel any better, I could barely sleep last night myself, kept up all night by who I might find on my team, hoping I'll like them." Steven said, reassuring the boy.

"Well, at least I know I'm not the only one who didn't get any sleep last night." The boy said.

Steven finished filling his last magazine and put it on his belt, then took Der Befreier from his locker and put it on his back before turning towards the boy. "I'm Steven by the way. Steven Paxton." He said, extending his hand.

"Name's Jaune, Jaune Arc." He replied, shaking Steven's hand.

"Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?" Steven said, trying to humor Jaune.

"That's what _I'm saying_! Finally someone agrees with me!" Jaune says, clearly excited.

The two of them then looked over to see Pyrrha and the pale white haired girl talking, and Jaune clearly took interest in the pale girl.  
The two of them were talking about being on a team together, when Jaune steps in between them, facing the pale girl.

"You again?" She says, her arms crossed, an annoyed look on her face as well as an annoyed tone evident in her voice.

"Nice to meet you Jaune." Pyrrha quickly butted in, which caught Steven by surprise.

Jaune then pushed Pyrrha out of the way "Yeah, yeah, _so…_ Weiss, couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day" He said, flexing his arm with no muscle, trying to impress the pale girl, apparently named Weiss.

" _Oh_ , you've got to be kidding me" Weiss said.

"Don't worry, no need to be embarrassed. So, been hearing rumors about teeeeeeeams. I was thinking you and me would make a good one, what do you say?" Jaune said. Steven could only think of one thing as he was watching this… 'smooth', and he was being sarcastic.

"Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each so-"Pyrrha interrupted, only to be interrupted by Jaune

"You don't say." Now walking over to Pyrrha, "Well hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team." Jaune said, pointing to himself. Steven let out a snort of laughter.

Weiss than got between Pyrrha and Jaune as if she were breaking up some fight about to happen, forcing the two away from each other before saying "Jaune, is it? Do you have _any_ idea who you're talking to?" motioning towards Pyrrha.

"Not in the slightest snow angel" He replied. 'smooth' Steven thought to himself again. But he payed attention to what Weiss was about to say, as he was curious as to what she meant with Pyrrha.

"This is Pyrrha" She said motioning towards her behind her.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha said enthusiastically, waving.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum." She stated.

"Never heard of it." Replied Jaune.

Taken aback, Weiss lets out a small puff, before saying "She's won the Mistral Regional Tournaments in a row, a new record!"

"The what?" Jaune replied.

Angry, Weiss then said, "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"

Jaune gasped in amazement "That's _you?_ " He said, pointing to Pyrrha. "They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly the cereal isn't very good for you." Pyrrha added.

"So after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask _her_ to be on your team?" Weiss asked, feeling victorious.

"Why not?" Everyone turned to look at Steven. Weiss glared at him with a look that said 'you're not helping'. "What? I didn't know who Pyrrha was either until you said what you did back there."

"And just _who_ are you supposed to be?" Weiss asked annoyed.

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know." Steven said, rather tauntingly. Weiss rolled her eyes. "Name's Paxton, Steven Paxton." He said, folding his arms.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha said enthusiastically to Steven, waving her arm in a greeting, which Steven returned with a smile.

"Thank you Steven." Jaune said gratefully. Steven nodded in acknowledgement, also with a smile.

Weiss walked right up to Steven, who towered over her, and put her finger on his chest in an accusatory manner, right on the center of the eagle. "And what makes _you_ so special?" She asked, not expecting much.

"For starters I got a 100 on the entrance exam." He said, with the most casual expression on his face as if it was no big deal. Weiss stepped back and gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. Even _she_ didn't score a perfect 100 on her entrance exam, then again, she didn't get the _easy_ test.

"Impressive." Pyrrha said.

"Thank you." Steven said with a slight bow.

"Anyways, I think Jaune would make a great team leader." Pyrrha said.

"Oh, stop it" he said, quite enthusiastically.

"Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!" Weiss countered, trying to shut Jaune down.

"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for team Jaune, spots are filling up quick! Now I'm _not supposed to do this_ , but maybe I can pull some strings, find a place for you, what do you say?" Jaune said, pride unfading.

"Alright, that's a bit too close" Weiss started, indeed Jaune was a bit too close. Pyrrha, a little help please?!"

What happened next was something that Steven, or Jaune, expected at all. Pyrrha threw her sword/ spear at Jaune, pinning him to a locker.

"I'm sorry!" She said, rather apologetically.

Then the intercom went on with Glynda Goodwitch as the voice.

" _Would all first year students please report to Beacon cliff for initiation, Again, all first year students report to Beacon cliff immediately."_

As Pyrrha Walked by Jaune, taking back her staff, forcing him to slump to the ground, she said "It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise" Jaune said, defeated.

"Having some trouble there, ladykiller?" Yang asked Jaune as she and Ruby walked over, Ruby helping him up.

"I don't understand. My dad says all that women look for is _confidence_. Where did I go _wrong_?" he replied.

"'Snow angel' _probably_ wasn't the best start." Yang said.

Steven walked passed them with his finger in the air, still walking forward, and said "agreed."

"Come on Jaune, let's go." Ruby said, supporting her friend.

* * *

Soon, they were all line up on the cliffs overlooking a large forest. Steven was right next to Jaune, who was last in line, and next to Ruby as well. Steven was excited as it was finally time to begin. Here he'd get a team, make new friends for sure, and much more. Ozpin and Goodwitch stood in front of them.

Ozpin began by saying "For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard about the rumors of the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given team mates. Today. With one exception. There are an odd amount of you, so one of you will be on your own. However, that person will have the ability to do missions with whatever team they wish whenever they want, as long as the other team permits it." Goodwitch explained.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin continued. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." He finished.

Steven looked around, not sure who he'd like to pair up with in all honesty.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path, or you _will_ die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and will grade you appropriately. Are there any further questions?" Ozpin explained and finally finished.

Jaune raised his hand. "Yeah, um sir-"

"Good!" Ozpin interrupted. "Now, take your positions."

It was finally time. Steven had been waiting so long for this. He stood in a wide stance, Der Befreier out in his hands, ready to go.

One by one, from left to right, the platforms that everyone was standing on launched their occupants into the air. This meant that they would need a way to safely land, otherwise risk injury. Steven had one though; it wasn't that hard, he just needed to make sure no one saw him.

Jaune, however, being the clumsy one, didn't know what a 'landing strategy' was, and as a result, nervously asked about it with Ozpin, who wasn't much of a help.

The launch pads were finally getting closer to his, he was coming soon. Before he knew it, Ruby was launched, and before he could prepare, he was in the air, followed by a panicking Jaune Arc.

As everyone was flying through the air, Steven looked back to make sure that no one saw him, before safely turning into a bald eagle, then proceeded to climb up in the air until everyone descended into the forest, where he could safely land undetected. It was important that no one knew his semblance for a few reasons. First off, most, if not all, of his forms, appeared Grimm. Second, with what he did last night to Weiss, Yang, Ruby, and that Black haired girl with the bow, they'd immediately figure it out. Thirdly, he kinda wanted to keep it a secret, that way he had an edge in battle.

As Ozpin watched Steven, he noticed how the eagle he took as his form had no markings on it anywhere. This intrigued him, as only one other form of Steven's didn't have this pattern, which was his Tyrannosaurus, but it still grew spines. Ozpin watched Steven intently as he descended into the forest with a screech.

* * *

 _Steven's dream life has finally started, and he's already made several new friends, whether he knows it or not. He hoped dearly that he wouldn't be the one left out in the end, but only time would be able to tell. And little did Ozpin or Steven know, something very, very bad was going to happen in that forest, and there was nothing they could do to prevent the coming fire. The fact that it will be an accident will change nothing. Join our heroes next time in_ ** _Chapter 5:The Demons Within._** _Thanks for reading, and sorry for the extremely long chapter, I had to fit this in one chapter or I'd literally be making zero progress._


	5. Chapter 5: The Demons Within

**Chapter 5: The Demons Within**

* * *

As everyone else made it down into the forest, Steven remained in the air to try to find his objective before heading into the forest, that way he knew which way to go. He wasn't going to fly all the way there though, that was too easy, he wanted to have _some_ fun in the forest. Steven could see Yang launching ahead of everyone else, boosting herself in the air with her shotgun gauntlets called Ember Celica. Ruby used Crescent Rose to hook onto a tree and spin around, slowing herself down safely. Some others hopped from tree top to tree top before descending to the forest grounds.

Steven looked ahead, trying to find this temple Ozpin was talking about. After a minute or so, he was able to spot some ruins to the north in a small clearing and believed that is was probably the temple in question. So Steven descended onto the forest floor, looking around before returning to a human to make sure no one saw him, before proceeding north.

As Steven made his way north, he made sure he had Der Befreier at the ready, just in case. Along his route, he was thinking about who his partner would be, excited at the thought. The rules were that the first person you made eye contact with in the forest would be your partner for the next four years, so Steven kept his eyes open, scanning the area around him for anyone.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ruby had just landed in the forest, and began sprinting through the forest. She was running with one goal in mind: find her sister Yang, and be her partner. That way they could always be together and on the same team. Ruby also thought about contingencies, such as Jaune, but realized he probably wasn't the best fighter, as well as Blake, the girl with the black hair and black bow with amber eyes he saw the night before. Truth be told, Steven never noticed her amber eyes, as that would have probably reminded him of Jenny who also had amber eyes from time to time. Anyways, Ruby was running through the forest, hoping that she was able to find Yang before anyone else. Suddenly, however, she was forced to stop, as she saw someone in front of her.

Low and behold, in front of Ruby, was Weiss Schnee, the pale, white haired girl. Ruby slowly raised her eyes to meet Weiss' before Weiss simply turned around in rejection.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Ruby said as Weiss walked away. "We're supposed to be teammates." She said to herself, Weiss clearly not listening.

As Weiss walked through the forest, she was surprised, but not happy, when she came across Jaune Arc pinned to a tree by Pyrrha's sword, which she had thrown a minute or so ago to catch him before he landed.

Jaune looked down at Weiss and waved and laughed nervously, before Weiss turned around once more, and walked in the other direction, choosing the lesser of two evils it seemed. A look of defeat showed on Jaune's face.

Ruby hung her head down in sadness. As Weiss began to walk towards her again, she began, "By _no_ means does this make us friends." Before grabbing Ruby's hood, dragging her in the opposite direction.

"You came _back_!" Ruby said in happiness, her arms in the air victorious. Weiss and Ruby were now teammates for the next four years.

"Hey wait! Come back! Who's going to get me down from here?!" Jaune cried out.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha said from below, coming out of the nearby bushes. "Do you… have any spots left on your team?" She said.

"Very funny." Jaune said in response, annoyed, crossing his arms, before ultimately looking over and smiling at Pyrrha. The two locked eyes, making them partners.

* * *

As Yang walked through the forest, she called out into the wilderness " _Hellooooo_?" hoping to get a response. "Is anyone out there? _Hellooooo_? I'm getting _bored_ here!" she said before turning around, having heard something in the bushes behind her. "Is someone there?" She asked expectedly. When she peered into the bushes, she asked "Ruby, is that you?" before seeing the actual aggressor, and saying " _nnnope."_ with a pop of the 'p', jumping back just in time to dodge a swipe from an Ursa in the bush, a bear like Grimm, just like the one Steven fought during his test. Yang rolled out of the way, and got up and got ready to fight. Cartwheeling back to dodge another swipe from the Ursa, who gave out a grunt just like a bears as he did so, before jumping over Yang to join another Ursa behind her. One of them jumped at her, and Yang took her fist and punched it in the stomach, firing off her shotgun gauntlets, sending the creature flying onto its back. The second tried something similar, only to get an uppercut to the chin, then to the side of the head, both times having shotgun shells fired into it, before falling onto its back, and flopping onto its stomach.

"You guys wouldn't have happened to see a girl in a red hood, would you?" She asked the Grimm, although not expecting an answer. In response, the Grimm growled and grunted at her, standing back up on their feet. "You could just say no!" She replied, before one of them tried to swipe her twice more, Yang able to dodge both times. "Geez, you two couldn't hit the broadside of a b-" Yang started, but was cut off when she saw one of her golden hairs falling from the sky, apparently being cut from the fight. As it hit the ground, Yang looked down, closing her eyes. " _You…._ " She began, her voice shaking with anger, before re-opening her eyes to reveal that they have changed from her usual lilac color, to a red, but only her irises. The Grimm looked at each other in confusion. "You _MONSTERS_!" Yang yelled, before her hair burst into flames in a fit of rage, launching herself towards one of the Grimm and punching it in the sides, knocking it back, then launching herself once more as the Grimm was falling backwards, propelling herself by firing her gauntlets behind her, before landing punch after punch on the Grimm in a blind fury, finally causing the Ursa to collide with several trees, causing them to fall. The second Ursa came up to Yang, prompting her to reply "You want some too?!" her eyes still red in anger. The Grimm stood up on its hind legs and let out a growl, before being struck in the back of the head by a mysterious force, causing it to collapse on the ground dead, revealing its attacker to be Blake Belladonna, wearing her black bow on her head. She wears black low-heeled boots and stockings that start off black at her hips, but gradually fade to purple as they near her shoes. On the outside of her stockings, there are white emblems that appear to be Belladonna flowers. She wears black ribbons on both of her arms, with a black detached sleeve and a silver band on her left arm. She wears a black buttoned vest with coattails, and a white sleeveless undershirt that exposes part of her midriff with white shorts that may be connected to her shirt, although it is partly obscured by the vest. She also wears a detached scarf-like collar around her neck. She also has a gray magnetic plate strapped to her back like a backpack, for holstering her weapon, which was in the back of the skull of the Ursa in front of her. Her weapon, a pistol with a sword blade on top that could be folded backwards, named Gambol Shroud, had a ribbon attached to it, which allowed Blake to throw it and retrieve it, which she did as the Grimm fell to the ground before sheathing it. Her sheath for the sword-pistol was also usable as a blunt weapon.

Blake then smiled at Yang, making eye contact with her, before Yang said "I could've taken him" The two were now team mates.

Steven then came in from behind, rolling out from the bushes behind Yang, his rifle leveled at the Grimm, before looking to see the two next to the dead Grimm. They were both surprised to see him, prompting to look at him with hostility, raising their weapons for a moment before realizing he was a student. "Aww, looks like I'm late to the party." Steven said standing up and lowering his weapon. "I see the two of you have found a partner." He continued, walking towards them.

"Yep." Yang said, happy.

"I'm Blake." Blake said, introducing herself to Steven, not one used to making conversations.

"I'm Steven." He returned, giving her a friendly smile.

"So where's your partner?" Yang asked, looking around.

" _Yeeeeaaaah_ , about _that_ …." Steven said, scratching his back awkwardly.

"Ooh, sorry." Yang said with an apologetic smile, not realizing he hadn't found a partner yet.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Steven said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'll find _someone_ at some point." He said, rather hopeful. "Mind if I roll around with you guys until then?"

"I don't mind. Do you Blake?" Yang asked.

"No, not at all." She replied in a quiet tone.

With that the three of them continued to head towards the temple together.

* * *

Meanwhile, Pyrrha and Jaune were walking through the woods, when Jaune gets hit in the face by a branch, scratching his face under his eye.

"Jaune! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha said.

Jaune chuckled. "It's okay, just a scratch." He said before getting up, the scratch now visible under his right eye.

"Why didn't you activate your aura?" Pyrrha asked.

"Huh?"

"Your _aura._ "

"Gazuntite."

"Jaune, do you… _know_ what aura is?" She asked him seriously.

"pfft, of _course_ I do!, do _you_ know what aura is?" he responded with a voice crack.

"Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt like you were being watched without knowing someone was there?"

"Uh…yeah."

"With practice, our aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."

"What about monsters?"

"No. The monsters we fight lack a soul. They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness and we are the light.

"Right. That's why we fight them."

"It's not about why, it's about knowing. Understanding both dark and light helps us manifest our aura, everyone has some of both. By bearing your soul outwards as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for aura. You project yourself and your soul with fighting."

"It's like a _forcefield!_ " Jaune said enthusiastically, realizing what an aura really is.

"Yes, if you want to look at it that way." Pyrrha then looked over to Jaune, and walked up to him. "Now close your eyes and concentrate," She said, putting her hand on Jaune's cheek.

Jaune did so reluctantly. Both of them started to glow, their aura's bright. Pyrrha's was a brilliant red, much brighter than Steven's. Jaune's was white, like the moon.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality, through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite and distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." Pyrrha said, taking her hand off of Jaune towards the end, then hunching over, seemingly winded.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked worried.

"It's alright." She reassured him. "I used my aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own."

The scratch that was on Jaune's face now rapidly disappeared, thanks to the healing powers of his aura.

"You have a lot of it." Pyrrha noticed.

"Wow." Jaune could simply say, speechless as he looked at his arms, with his aura glowing bright.

* * *

Back on the cliff, Ozpin and Glynda are watching on their tablets, monitoring the students.

"Our last pair has been formed sir." She said to Ozpin, showing Lie Ren, a boy with long black hair tied into a ponytail that ends midway down his back. There is a magenta streak on the left side of his hair. His eyes match the streak in his hair, and his clothing appears to be influenced by Chinese culture. He wears a dark green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat that is red on the inside, with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The trimming goes down the right side of his torso and forms a black collar. He wears a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the suit, and light-tan pants with black shoes. He is paired with his lifelong friend Nora Valkyrie. Nora has short orange hair and turquoise eyes. Her clothing is a mix and match of some sort, with different colors and themes. She wears a collared black vest that ends at her waist. Her signature emblem, a hammer with a lightning bolt, can be found on the back. Under the vest are two layers of clothing, colored red and light-blue respectively. She also wears a white sleeveless top that forms a tiny heart shape between her cleavage and collarbone, with a white detached sleeve on each arm. She wears matching fingerless gloves on each hand. She sports a pink skirt that starts at the waist and ends mid-thigh. Her shoes are a mix of pink and white with pink laces, displaying her emblem on their soles. She also wears armor that begins in the middle of the shoulder and neck and ends by the waist.

"Poor boy, I can't possibly imagine those two getting along. Still, he's probably better off than Ms. Nikos." Goodwitch continued. "… Or Steven, he's the odd one out I'm afraid." Ozpin hummed in acknowledgement. "I don't care what his transcripts say, that Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat. I guess we'll find out soon enough. At their current pace, they should reach the temple within just a few minutes. Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year? Professor Ozpin?" Ozpin hums again, watching Ruby and Weiss, with Steven, Blake, and Yang open in another window.

* * *

Ruby is sitting on the ground, playing with leaves as her new partner Weiss tries to figure out which way the temple is.

"It's definitely this way." Weiss says, walking in one direction "I mean, _this_ way!" She says, walking in the opposite direction. "It's _definitely_ this way." She then turns around and stands in front of Ruby. "Alright, its official, we passed it."

Ruby stood up off the ground. "Why can't you just admit that you have _no_ idea where we're going?"

"Because I know _exactly_ where we're going, we're going… to… the… forest temple."

"Ugh!" Ruby retorts.

"Oh, stop it! You don't know where we are either!" Weiss snaps in response.

"Well at least I'm not pretending like I know everything." Ruby snaps back.

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Weiss retorts.

"That means you're a _big, stupid, jerk_ and I hate you!" Ruby snaps.

Weiss sighs haughtily. "Just keep moving."

" _oh, just keep moving_! _Hurry_ _uuup_! _Waaah watch where you're going!_ " Ruby mocked Wiess. "Why are you so bossy?!" She says.

"I'm NOT bossy!" Weiss says in a loud voice, turning around and stomping her foot. "Don't say things like that!"

"Stop treating me like a kid!"

"Stop acting like a kid!"

"Well stop acting like you're perfect!"

"I'm _not_ perfect!" Weiss said, now getting in Ruby's face. "Not yet, but I'm still _leagues_ better than you." She said, turning around and walking away on her own.

"You don't even know me…" Ruby says quietly, her face saddened.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blake, Yang, and Steven have made it to the temple, a small circular structure with no roof, a crumbling wall in the back, several pillars of various condition supporting what used to be a ring, all made of stone.

"Think this is it?" Yang says to her partner, who just looks at her with a 'what do you think?' look before walking forward. Steven just shrugs at Yang.

They all head down into the temple, seeing various pedestals with various chess pieces on them, some already taken, as they were not the first team there. On the right side were black pieces, and on the left were golden pieces. All of the pieces were sorted in order from least importance to greatest, starting with pawn, and ending with the King.

"Chess pieces?" Blake said, curiously and rather underwhelmed.

"Some of them are missing," Yang noticed. "looks like we weren't the first ones here."

"Well… I guess we should pick one." Blake continued.

"Yeah. These seem to be the relics alright, why else would there be random chess pieces out here placed like this?" Steven reasoned with himself out loud.

* * *

Meanwhile Jaune and Pyrrha were outside a cave, which they _thought_ was the temple.

"You think this is it?" Jaune asked his partner. Before lighting a makeshift torch and ventured into the cave,

They seemed to fail to notice the quite clear cave drawings on the outside of the cave's entrance, depicting many people with spears and bows desperately trying to take down what appeared to be a giant scorpion.

"I'm not sure this is it" Pyrrha said with doubt in her voice, which echoed off the cave's walls.

Jaune lets out a bit of an annoyed sigh. "Pyrrha, I made the torch. Could you _at least_ humor me for maybe five more feet?" Jaune then proceeds to trip on something, faceplanting into a puddle, which puts out his torch for good. Jaune stands up slowly in the darkness.

"Do you _feel_ that?" Pyrrha asks uneasily.

"Soul-crushing regret?"

"No, it's… _warm_ "

* * *

Back at the temple, Yang is eyeing the golden knight piece, trying to decide on what relic to take. She picks it up and puts it into the air before looking at Blake and saying "How about a cute little pony?"

"Sure," Blake says, rolling her eyes, but then producing a smile.

Steven then decides to take the golden Queen Chess piece for himself. "Here we go." He says to himself, a smile on his face. At that point he was basically aware of the fact that he _probably_ would be the odd man out of all of this, leaving the forest without a partner. Otherwise he would've found _somebody_ already.

"That wasn't too hard." Yang said, rather enthusiastically.

"Well, it's not like this place is very difficult to find." Blake countered. She was right, it was a stone ruin in the middle of a clearing, and it most definitely stood out.

* * *

Back in the cave, Jaune and Pyrrha were walking around aimlessly in the darkness, until they came upon a glowing yellow object.

"That's the relic!" Jaune said, bouncing with excitement. The large object in front of him had a sharp end facing towards him, and it slowly got larger until it met a spherical esque shape, forming a sort of barb. Jaune then tried to reach at it and grab it with his hand, but it moved backwards suddenly. "Hey! Bad… relic." He said, before trying to snatch it again, once again failing as it moved back. Jaune then grabbed it with both of his hands, when the barb suddenly moved upwards, forcing Jaune to hang onto the barb in the air. "Gotcha!"

" _Jaune_ …" Pyrrha said nervously.

Then, suddenly a bright red design began to light up in front of Jaune, with three red orbs on either side of it. This wasn't a relic, this was a Grimm.

A scream that was awfully girlish could be heard in the distance from the temple.

"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang exclaimed. "Blake, Steve, did you hear that?!"

Pyrrha ran out of the cave with her sword drawn, Jaune nowhere to be seen, until a giant Grimm scorpion, known as a Deathstalker, bursts through the small hole in the side of the cliff, leaving one at least ten times its original size, Jaune hanging on for dear life on the creatures' barbed stinger. The creature lets out a screech that sends chills down the spine.

Jaune was panicking very hard, saying unintelligible things. Pyrrha tried to talk to him, saying "Jaune, whatever you do don't let-" She tried to say, before the scorpion flung Jaune off of it, sending him flying into the air. "… go." She finished. She was now on her own against the Grimm. Deciding that it was best to _not_ take it on alone, Pyrrha decided to run.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ruby and Weiss had somehow hitched a ride on a giant bird-like Grimm.

" _Ruby, I told you this was a_ _terrible_ _idea!_ Weiss said, trying to speak over the loud wind.

" _We're_ _fine_! _Stop worrying_!" Ruby responded.

" _I am SO far beyond worrying!"_

" _In a good way?"_

" _In a BAD way! In a VERY BAD WAY!"_

" _Well, why don't we just jump?!"_

" _Are you insane?!"_ Weiss exclaimed, looking over to see that Ruby had already jumped off, leaving her behind. " _Oh you insufferable little rat!"_

* * *

Back at the temple, Blake was watching the skyline when Yang said "Blake, did you hear that? What should we do?"

Ruby then came soaring through the air, yelling " _HEADS UP_!" as she came falling to the ground, only to be hit in midair by Jaune, who was also flying. The two of them collided, and were thrown into the trees.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked in a bit of shock.

"I…" Yang began, before being interrupted by the sound of an Ursa being ridden on by Nora Valkyrie with Lie Ren, the Grimm falling dead at the edge of the trees.

"aww. It's broken," Said a disspointed Nora, sad that the Grimm she was riding on died.

"Nora? Please…" Ren began, trying to catch his breath. "Don't ever do that again."

Nora then bolted over to where the relics are with a surprising speed, taking a liking to the golden Rook piece, before picking it up, then singing " _I'm queen of the cast-le, I'm queen of the cast-le!"_ , interrupted by Ren screaming " _NORA_?!" angrily, snapping her out of her trance, "Coming Ren!" and then frolicked over to her friend and partner.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked again, once again shocked.

Once again, Yang began with "I…" as if she was about to explain something once more, but once again being interrupted by the loud shriek of the Deathstalker bursting through the trees with Pyrrha desperately trying to outrun it.

Ruby then rolled out of the forest, much to Yang's surprise. "Ruby?"

"Yaaaaang!" Ruby responded. They then gave both of each other high fives, but being interrupted by Nora in between them, shouting "Noraaaaa!" which scared Yang and Ruby.

Steven couldn't believe how ironic and uncanny this was, but decided to take action, as no one else was appearing to react to that giant Grimm chasing Pyrrha. However, the Grimm was right on top of her, and was about to grab her with its claw, when Steven quickly shot the claw at the last second, making it recoil slightly, giving Pyrrha a window of opportunity.

"Pyrrha, Get out of there!" He yelled.

Simultaneously, Weiss finally let go of the giant bird Grimm. Jaune, seeing the opportunity to save his 'damsel in distress' quickly leaped out to catch her in his arms successfully, but then plummeting to the ground with her. His body was able to provide a soft enough cushion for Weiss to land on however.

"My hero…" Weiss said sarcastically.

"My back…" Jaune said in agony.

Pyrrha was then thrown in front of the rest of her comrades by the Grimm.

"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang said pessimistically.

"Not if I can help it." Ruby said, way too confident in her abilities, charging forward with Crescent Rose, using a bullet to boost her, striking the Death Stalker on the head but bouncing off, severely underestimating the Grimm.

"Ruby!" Steven yelled as he ran towards his friend.

The Deathstalker was about to strike Ruby while she was disoriented on the ground with its barb, but Steven quickly shot it, causing it to cancel its move. Steven quickly ran over to her and helped her up. At this moment, Steven believed that his friends and comrades would not be able to easily outmatch the scorpion _and_ the flying Grimm, and thought it was up to him to take on one of them while the others took the second. He knew he could do it, but it would mean using his semblance, which everyone would see him use, potentially making them realize several things, but he _had to take that chance_ , or else suffer the dire consequences.

"Ruby, get everyone out of here! Let _me_ take care of this." He said, now facing the Grimm, which was awaiting his move.

"Steven, you can't take that thing alone!" Ruby said with a sudden change of heart, realizing her mistake she just made.

"Don't worry about me, now just go!" He said. "I won't be far behind, I promise." Steven said, looking into Ruby's silver eyes. Ruby nodded in acknowledgement, although reluctantly. "Stand back." Steven warned Ruby, who did so quickly, but kept her eyes on Steven.

What Steven did next was clearly what no one expected, as they all let out a gasp of shock and awe as his aura around him pulsed a dark red, making a sort of sound with it, before Steven blinked red, and in a crack of thunder, transformed into the same black and red Tyrannosaurus he was on his first day on Remnant, _without_ the red design on him anywhere. Steven then made a loud, audible inhale, before roaring in the sky, the power coursing through his veins. Everyone now knows of his semblance.

Steven then turned his head towards Ruby, giving her a look and a nod as if to say 'get out of here'. Ruby understood, and said to the others, "Come on, let's get going."

Everyone ran off towards the cliffs where they came from, allowing Steven to battle the Grimm on his own.

Steven taunted the Deathstalker with another roar in its direction before charging it head on. The Grimm also charged, its barb in front, ready to hit Steven. Steven then quickly turned to his right enough so that the left side of his tail was able to swat the stinger away from him, before stomping on the scorpion's head with his left leg with tremendous force. The scorpion then grabbed a hold of his leg, proceeding to trip Steven onto his side.

Steven quickly got up with a slight limp, his ankle damaged slightly, before biting the Grimm's right claw, shattering it like, much like breaking a lobster's shell, shards of it going everywhere, causing the scorpion to reel in pain.

In a rage, the scorpion then stung Steven with its barb, however it didn't inject any venom. Instead it repeatedly and rapidly kept stinging Steven's body as he lay on the ground, helpless.

* * *

Distinct screams of pain could be heard from the distance as Ruby, Yang and the rest of the students were running towards the cliff they needed to scale. Everyone tried to pay no mind to the screams of pain behind them, which were clearly not Grimm. They soon made it to a clearing just in front of the cliff. In front of them was some more ruins over a gorge that lay between them and their goal.

Suddenly, the Bird-like Grimm, also known as a Nevermore, flew overhead, and unleashed its razor sharp feathers on everyone, forcing them to take cover before returning fire. As Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Blake all ran into the ruins, looking to get higher up to attack it directly, no one noticed the screams of pain stop, as the others tried to hit the bird in its weak spots before being ambushed by the Deathstalker, come to finish what it started.

Ren, Nora, Pyrrha, and Jaune were now engaged by the giant scorpion, uncertain of Steven's fate. The Deathstalker began slicing and clawing at them, forcing them back onto a thin and weak stone bridge that must have been centuries old, as it was crumbling beneath their feet. Pyrrha tried to stab the creature in the eye, but the Grimm caught it with its remaining claw, then threw it away like it was nothing. Pyrrha quickly retrieved it somehow, using something much akin to the force to get it. Nothing was working, and the Grimm slowly advanced onto the bridge, barely small enough to fit, causing it to crumble greatly, its structural integrity weakening.

The Scorpion was about to strike one of them with its stinger, which Nora shot a grenade at with her weapon, a hammer that turned into a Grenade launcher. However, directly after her grenade hit the scorpion, they saw something they didn't expect. Steven came out of the woods roaring, still a Tyrannosaurus, charging at the side of the Grimm, hitting it with the rhinoceros-like horn that now protruded from his head, as well as many other spines along his body, Steven's eyes now glowing red. Upon knocking the Grimm onto its side, Steven proceeded to bite at the creature's weak and vulnerable underside, tearing flesh each time he went back in, until it started to evaporate. Steven let out another roar. Upon looking at Steven's left side, which was facing the four students, the hundreds of stab wounds could be seen on the side of Steven's face, body, tail, and legs, some so deep that his gums and teeth were exposed on his head, giving him an evil and gruesome image.

Part way through his attack, Nora had no idea what was going on, thinking that something happened to Steven, or completely forgetting about him was uncertain, but she accidentally fired a grenade at Steven.

Up to that point, Steven was in complete control of his actions, but when Nora accidentally hit him with a grenade, he seemed to have lost control of his body.

Ruby had been witnessing what was happening since she heard Steven's roar once more, and was now looking at what was unfolding in front of their four comrades, along with Blake, Weiss and Yang.

The Nevermore circled for a moment before unexpectedly leaving, possibly knowing what was about to happen.

Steven lost control of his body, and he knew it. He consciously didn't want to do anything, in fact, he tried to change back to his human form, but he _couldn't._ Instead, his form that he took turned towards the four students, now all in shock and full of fear.

This wasn't the Steven anyone knew anymore.

Everyone watched in horror as a red pulse occurred on Steven's nose, which quickly spread along his entire body in blood red veins, much like a Grimm. More spines began to form in places he never expected. Spines began to protrude at the end of his tail, forming a spiked club, others on the sides of his legs. More sprouted out of his back in seemingly random places, adding to the hellish image. Steven tried to fight for control over his body, making it appear to the others like he was in some sort of pain, or as if two souls were competing for the same body, as the head seemed to be fighting itself. One moment the eyes would be brown, roaring downwards or to the side into the ground, but then they would turn _bright red_ , roaring upwards and to the opposite side into the air. While this was taking place, spines began to form on the outside of Steven's jaw, creating what looked like a second, external set of teeth, but these were much more jagged, thick, and sharp than Steven's normal teeth, making Steven appear as what many would consider the very definition of _hell_. Once the process was complete, the red eyes remained on his head, and the violent thrashing of his head stopped, slowly turning to look at Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang all looked on in horror, as they had no idea what to do, their friend/comrade about to do something none of them thought possible of him, even in the short time they've know him.

The other four were frozen in fear as Steven slowly walked over towards them, towering over them, before he lowered his head in front of his comrades.

Steven himself could only watch what was happening in front of him, something else having taken control of his body.

Steven was struck with fear as he heard a second voice in his head that wasn't his own. It was female, he couldn't mistake it, and was riddled with evil. " _You think you came into this world randomly, but I assure you, it was not random. You are mine, and you will bow to my every whim, or you will suffer the consequences…"_ it said. " _Let this be an example to you of what will happen."_ The mysterious voice finished.

Steven's body let out a roar directly in front of his four comrades, showing both his new _and_ normal teeth, his mouth filled with the blood of the Grimm he just killed.

Ozpin and Goodwitch watched from above in horror.

"We have to do something!" Glynda said quickly.

Despite the fact they said they wouldn't intervene, they knew they had to, for this was something none of them expected.

Ozpin had an idea of what was happening, but kept it to himself, nodding at Glynda in affirmation, before they both jumped down to help their students.

Steven began to charge at the four students, his mouth open, trying to catch them as they ran. He began to gain on them, and was about to close his mouth on Pyrrha, who just shoved Jaune out of the way, but was stopped in his tracks, as if he hit a wall, all on his own power.

' _No. I won't let you do this to me, to my friends! This is MY body, MY life, and it is MY OWN to live! NO ONE CAN CONTROL ME!'_ Steven yelled at the voice in his head, retreating off of the bridge. Once on solid ground, Steven roared up in the air, his spines instantly disappearing, the veins fading, and his eyes turning back to brown, before flashing back to his human form, screaming at the top of his lungs, before falling to his knees, then holding himself up with his arms as he fell to the ground, panting furiously.

Ozpin and Glynda landed in front of Steven to see him sobbing uncontrollably into the soil.

Steven noticed them as soon as they landed, and looked up at them, to see the indescribable expression on everyone's face. Steven knew that no one would believe him if he told them what had just happened, it was too strange, too stupid, too _weird_ for anyone to _possibly_ comprehend.

Still sobbing, Steven stood up, and simply said, "I'm sorry." To everyone around him before taking off into the forest behind him.

"Steven! Wait!" Ruby ran forward using her speed semblance to catch up to him, tackling him in the process.

"No! Get off of me Ruby! I don't want to hurt you, don't you understand?!" Steven said, still sobbing, scrambling to get up, but realizing he couldn't run away anymore without running into Ruby due to the large rock behind him.

Ruby slowly walked towards him, forcing Steven to walk backwards, unsure of what she was going to do, her expression unreadable. She forced him into the rock where he couldn't escape. Steven was afraid of what she was going to do to him, but knew he probably deserved whatever pain was about to come.

Steven braced himself for the pain, but was taken aback when he saw Ruby didn't hurt him, but instead _hugged him_. Steven didn't know what to think of it, and simply just hugged her back, crying into her. He then slumped down the rock, and was now sitting on the ground with Ruby, still hugging her.

Everyone watched rather dumbfounded at what was happening in front of them once more.

Steven had no idea how much time passed until he noticed everyone else standing around him and Ruby, looking at him, waiting.

After some time, both Ruby and Steven stood up, Ruby helping him up.

Steven stood in front of people he didn't even think could _possibly_ trust him anymore, not after what he did, even if it _wasn't_ his fault.

After a moment of silence, Steven finally spoke up. "That wasn't me." He said with an angry face, pointing towards where he was earlier. "Someone, _something_ took _control_ over me!" he said, his voice and hands shaking. "You have no right to trust me anymore after what…" Steven hesitated before saying, "I…. did back there. And I don't blame you if y-" Steven began, but was interrupted unexpectedly when Pyrrha raised her hand, as if signaling him to stop talking.

"Steven, we _still_ trust you." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"But how could you possibly sti-" Pyrrha raised her hand again.

"We know… _that_ … _wasn't_ you…" She began.

"We know you wouldn't hurt us like that." Yang finished.

"But all of you barely even _know_ me. How could you possibly notice such a thing?" Steven said.

"But we know you enough that you wouldn't do that." Jaune said.

Steven looked at them all in disbelief. "how?" is all he could manage to say.

"Because you're _that_ kind of person." Ruby said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Steven was touched deeply by what Ruby said, as that had been only said by one other person before…

Steven suddenly hugged Ruby tightly, falling to his knees.

Some time passed before Ozpin spoke up. "I believe it is about time we head back to the school, we need to get back before anyone worries about us. We will form the teams tonight and we will continue to discuss the details about what happened later."

Steven got up, wiped his eyes of his tears, and nodded in acknowledgement.

They all went back to Beacon in silence.

* * *

That night in the auditorium, teams were announced. Team RWBY consisted of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, with Ruby as their team leader. Team JNPR (pronounced Juniper) consisted of Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren, with Jaune Arc as their leader, much to many people's surprise. Steven, however, was all alone. He had no team, hell, he didn't even have a _partner_. Sure, he was given the option to join any other team as he wished with the teams' permission, but it didn't make him necessarily feel like a part of the team.

Everyone was then given their rooms, and Steven took the opportunity to leave on his own, to get away from everyone, so he could be alone. He looked down at the key with his name on it that he had been given, seeing a familiar room number on it. Steven went to his old room, the one he stayed in before his exam. Steven went in and locked the door behind him, and just lay down on his bed. He didn't know what he was going to do anymore.

What Steven didn't know, was that he had some neighbors that were all too familiar to him next door, and across the hall a little ways. Team RWBY was put right next to him, and team JNPR across from them.

Steven sat up on his bed, and took out the two photos from his pocket, and looked at them both.

* * *

Ozpin told both teams RWBY and JNPR that they were situated next to Steven's room as well, and once they got settled in, Pyrrha, Jaune, Yang, Ruby, and Blake went to go check up on him. Ren and Nora didn't know Steven very well at all, so they didn't go, which everyone understood, its Weiss they were upset with. Sure, Steven hadn't made the best impressions on her, but he didn't do anything _that_ bad to her in the end.

They all walked up to his door and knocked. Steven didn't notice, too caught up in the two photographs. After a long pause, and several other failed attempts, Blake then lock picked the door, much to everyone's surprise, and cautiously opened it to see Steven on his bed, the room dark, and staring at two photographs. Steven still didn't notice them all flooding into his room slowly. Ruby sat down next to Steven, which he finally noticed, calmly putting the pictures to his heart, hiding their faces. Steven still had secrets to keep, and this one he _couldn't_ reveal. Ruby put a hand on his back.

"Steven, its ok. We don't hold anything against you." She said, trying to reassure him.

"It's not that." He replied.

"Then what is it? You can tell us Steven, believe us. We won't look at you any differently." Ruby said

"I can't tell you." He said sternly, then putting his head in his hands, slipping the photos into his pocket beforehand.

A long silence passed by. Steven thought to himself many things. He wondered how these people could trust him so much after what he did, how they believed him so readily. He simply couldn't explain it. At that moment, he realized something. If these people were willing to accept him for who he was, and to trust him even after something so huge, then he should probably tell them about his past, or at least most of it. If these people cared about him _so_ much, then they deserved to know.

"I'll tell you in the morning." Steven finally spoke up. Smiles, and sighs of relief created by the tension in the room resounded in the room. They didn't like forcing it out of Steven, but they knew he had to tell them, or Steven would be eaten from the inside out by what he kept inside.

"We're here when you're ready Steven. Classes don't start until Monday, so we'll give you all our attention tomorrow."

"Thank you." Was all Steven could manage to say.

Everyone then left Steven alone for the rest of the night. However, not much later, Steven, after changing into his PJ's, went to team RWBY's room, which he figured out was next to his own, and knocked on the door. There was something he needed to tell them.

Knowing who it was, Ruby opened the door for him.

"I… hope I'm not intruding or anything…" Steven began, seeing everyone in their night clothes, and bunk beds much to his brief amusement, and Blake and Weiss in bed reading, "but I have something I need to confess personally to the four of you."

Weiss and Blake sat up at this, interested. Yang poked her head out from the door as well, next to Ruby. Ruby motioned him inside and closed the door behind him.

Steven stood there for a moment before looking at everyone. A tear started to run down his face. "I'm… sorry in advance…." He said. Before anyone could say anything, Steven turned into the same husky he was the night before, the red design appearing on his head, but only on his snout this time.

The room was silent as they saw what happened, and figured out what it meant.

Steven looked down in shame.

What happened next, no one expected.

Weiss got out of her bed, and walked over to Steven, and bent down in front of him.

Steven looked away to avoid her eyes. He was surprised when she hugged him tightly, and so was everyone else. She soon let go, then sternly stated "This does not mean we're friends" Steven understood, and nodded, then returned to his human form once more.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry for what I have done, both today and yesterday." He said, very regretfully.

"I forgive you." Ruby said.

"I forgive you." Yang said.

"I forgive you." Blake said.

"I forgive you." Weiss said. "This time." She added, still unsure about her situation as a whole with her team and whatnot at the moment.

After a moment, Steven thanked them. "I'll… leave you all alone now. Goodnight." He said, before letting himself out.

"Goodnight." Said Yang and Ruby in unison.

* * *

Back in his room, Steven lay awake for a while. The next day was going to be tough. He _had_ to tell everyone at least about how he got here, and then talk to Ozpin and Glynda about some things, mainly the 'test' he was given, and about the voices in his head, which he would also need to address with JNPR and RWBY tomorrow as well. Tomorrow was going to be rough, but Steven had to keep moving. Things can only get better after getting worse after all.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I know this is the second update in a row, and I haven't updated anything else, but I had the idea in my head for this chapter, so I had to write it before I forgot about it. Don't worry though, Ill be posting two chapters for The Grim Apocalypse next, and also something special. But nonetheless, be on the lookout for** **Chapter 5.5: Secrets**. **I decided it wouldn't be chapter 6 because its really just** **the characters building their relationships, and its all happening in one day, so yeah, but I do have some good stuff planned for chapter 6.**


	6. Chapter 5 Part 2: Secrets

**Chapter 5.5: Secrets**

* * *

The night didn't go very quickly for Steven. He couldn't sleep very well, not because of what he did the day before, but because he couldn't get over the voice that was in his head, and what it said. That and he was still in disbelief how everyone was so ready to forgive him despite barely knowing him _at all_. It was certainly a lot to process, especially what the voice said.

" _You think you came into this world randomly, but I assure you, it was not random."?_ What the hell is that supposed to mean? He was _brought_ into this world? Well, that certainly would explain a lot of it, but it doesn't explain _why_.

" _You are mine, and you will bow to my every whim, or you will suffer the consequences…"_?! What, now he's someone's pawn?! Steven hated to be manipulated, and as a result, was very hard to have been taken advantage of back home. The worst part, however, is that he may be _forced_ to do whatever this person's bidding is in the future, or something may happen. Steven may not have anything left to lose anymore, but he can't let anything happen to anyone because of something that is _his_ issue, or something out of their control. It just wasn't right.

Steven soon put two and two together, and realized something. Someone, _something_ brought him here to do whatever they wanted him to do. He doesn't know if it's good or evil, but considering what happened afterwards, he inferred the latter. But perhaps the most confusing of the aspects of this is _why him?_ What made _Steven Paxton_ , an average teenager from rural Massachusetts, who showed average talents, and only came into this world mere weeks ago, so _special_ , so _important_? Steven didn't very much like any of the answers he liked, so he tried to focus his mind elsewhere.

One of the many side effects of his ADHD, was that his mind was _always_ going, it never stopped. He didn't mind it, as he grew up with it, but it allowed hundreds of ideas into his mind every day, and he relished in that. Not only that, but his mind was always _racing_ , often bringing him from one subject to another, eventually getting to something entirely different, often making him wonder how the hell he got to where he was in his mind to begin with. Additionally, when he goes to bed, he doesn't stop thinking. He cannot simply calm his mind to sleep like any normal individual, he just randomly falls asleep mid-thought, often not realizing it until he has a dream or wakes up the next morning. This was both a blessing and a curse, as many times, as a result of his rapid though process, he often thought worst-case scenarios, and thought through how to deal with them if applicable, but if it was something he couldn't think through, he'd either stay on it, unable to think of something else, or his mind would bring him to something else entirely, letting him relax a little, however the former was more likely. Sometimes, however, Steven is able to realize what is happening, and the process he's taking, and is able to stop himself from continuing, and changing the subject.

* * *

The mind truly is an amazing thing, a space within our brains that allows us to create infinite ideas, whether they be innovations, activities, tactics, or anything else under the sun, it's what makes humans and any other similar species unique, Faunus included. And the best part about it? It's infinite, never ending, forever there, and it's what dictates our every move whether we realize it or not. Such a small area in your head, yet it's _infinite_. It's a little uncanny, don't you think? Yet for some, the mind is both a treasure and a curse. For some, their mind is turned against them, others, they are trapped in a small piece of it, unable to reach their potential from the many events they've had to endure in their lives, often making them lose hope. While those who have the better minds go on to do amazing things, whether it's recognized by the world or not, those people always change the world. They often become our leaders, our celebrated innovators, our cherished artists, and our greatest teachers. However, along with what is debatably our greatest ally, our greatest tool, can often be our worst enemy, as the ideas of many clash often, leading to conflict, a concept Steven's world was all too familiar with, and likely would be experiencing for as long as the human race existed on Earth.

You see how the boy's mind works? He is one of them, one of the ones where his mind is surely a treasure, he is _unique._ He may not be better than others in some aspects, and he certainly doesn't believe himself to be better than most people, but his _mind_ makes him who he is, and it is full of greatness, and he will go on to achieve great things, whether he realizes it or not, on Earth, or on Remnant, the place does not matter.

* * *

Steven has drifted to sleep by now, although it has taken a long time, he is at least getting some rest, which he will need for the coming day. Tomorrow, he will tell everyone his past because he feels it's right. He needs to, or else fear that something may happen and his potential friends and comrades will have no idea what to do should the worst happen. Not only that, but he feels as if his future comrades wouldn't quite trust him if they somehow heard it from someone else, and not from him. He won't tell them everything though, such as his family and….. about Jenny…. as they don't need to know about them, and Steven didn't want any more sympathy than he was already being given. Yes, Steven always wanted to be sure he was forgiven when he did something he regrets, but he doesn't like more sympathy than he thinks he deserves.

* * *

Steven didn't get much sleep that night, as expected. But he was used to waking up without much sleep, as he often only got his normal 8 hours of sleep every night, as he liked to do things with his days. Today, however, he only caught a few hours, waking up frequently for the dumbest of reasons. He looked over to the clock on his nightstand to see what time it was. "Five o'clock." He mumbled, but he decided he had enough, and got up from bed. The sun was only starting to rise, but light began to shine through the window anyways, but Steven kept his blinds closed. Steven stumbled around, grabbing what he needed, before going to take a hot shower. He really needed one to unwind for a bit.

Steven made sure to stay as quiet as he could. He didn't want to wake up anyone around him because of his negligence. Quietly closing his door, Steven walked through the hallway and to the showers. No one was in there, so Steven took as long as he desired. About 20 minutes later, Steven had exited the showers, now wrapped in just a towel, as no one was awake yet, he walked on back to his room stealthily, trying not to wake anyone up still. Successfully back in his room, Steven got dressed in a school uniform, as it was now officially mandatory to wear a school uniform while on school grounds, unless one is leaving the school grounds, or undertaking a mission. The uniforms were simple, but nice. For the guys, they had black suits lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie. Girls were given something similar, with the ability to wear long stockings as an optional component, a red plaid skirt, and a brown jacket with a tan vest and white shirt with a red ribbon tied at the collar made their uniform. Students were allowed to customize them a little, though, adding some things should they choose, so Steven took advantage of this, and put his emblem on his belt at all times, as he liked it so much.

Steven looked at the clock again, about 6:00. Steven knew he needed to talk to Ozpin about the events that transpired the day before, specifically the voices, along with a few _other_ things. He decided it wasn't too early, and considering the topic he's going to be bringing up with him, he was confident that he wouldn't mind in the end, as this was important.

Leaving his room, Steven made his way up to his headmaster's office, but was sure to leave a note on his door telling him where he is so no one would be worried about him. Steven took his time, getting to know the school a bit, as he would be spending the next four years here, and he should probably learn the layout as soon as possible.

* * *

Steven made it to the elevator that lead to Ozpins office, pressing the corresponding button to get there. He then ascended his way up the elevator, until he got to the same office he was brought to on his first day in this world. He was very surprised to say the least when he saw Ozpin at his desk so early in the morning, looking at things on his terminal.

Unknowingly to Steven, Ozpin was actually looking at the footage of Steven from the day before, specifically about the 'incident'. "Good morning, Mr. Paxton, what brings you here this morning?" He says, closing his terminal window, before looking at Steven.

"I have… some things to tell you about yesterday." Steven said nervously.

"I see… come, take a seat." Ozpin responded, motioning towards the empty chair in front of him. Steven proceeded to walk over to the chair, and sat down.

They sat there in silence for a few moments Steven let out a long sigh before saying anything further. "There were voices in my head before I… lost control." Steven said, trying to find the correct terminology.

Ozpin raised his eyebrow in curiosity, his elbows on the desk, and his fingertips touching, forming a sort of triangle with his hands. "Oh, really? What did this voice tell you?" Ozpin said, suddenly very serious, which startled Steven a little.

"It said…" He began, trying to recall the memory without causing himself too much pain, as if he let it do just that, he'd be vulnerable. " _It_ told me," He corrected himself, "that I was _brought_ into this world, and it wasn't a mistake. Additionally, she told me that I was under _her_ control, whether she liked it or not, and if I didn't comply with her, there would be consequences, which I assume would be the deaths of innocents." He finished, looking down in shame.

Ozpin hummed in acknowledgement before saying, "You mentioned 'she'. How do you know it's a woman?" He inquired, very serious.

"The voice was evil, and it was most certainly a woman's. That much I can say, but I do not recognize it." He answered.

"Alright. Now, tell me, how did you regain control of your body?" Ozpin asked in a less serious tone.

"I don't really know, I never really thought about that. I guess, once I saw what my body was about to do, I couldn't stand to see it do what it was about to do, so I forced… whatever was controlling me… out of my body. That's really the only way I can describe it."

"Fascinating." Ozpin said, leaning back in his chair a bit now.

"Do you have any idea as to what happened?" Steven asked hopefully, not expecting much of an answer.

"I… might have an idea, but don't worry about it." Ozpin stated calmly.

Steven became slightly outraged at this. "Don't worry about it?! Are you crazy? I think I should _definitely_ be worried about it!" He exclaimed, raising his voice below a yell. "I could _kill_ someone if that happens again!"

Ozpin let out a sigh before leaning back into his desk. "I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but I honestly don't know what happened right now. Once I get more information, I'll tell you, but for now, we have to not worry about it. Just be careful with your actions using your semblance for now."

Steven didn't like the answer he was being given, but he knew he was right. Even though there is a risk of it happening again, he can't let it prevent him from going about his day to day activities, or come between him and his comrades, and hopefully soon-to-be friends. "Fine." He said reluctantly.

"Good." Ozpin said. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?" He added, seeing that Steven appeared to still have some questions.

"Yes, actually." Steven began, now giving Ozpin a glare. "Why did you go easy on me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ozpin quickly dismissed Steven's question.

"Look, I hate to be rude here professor, but please don't lie to me." Steven continued sternly. "I _know_ you gave me a different test than the others, giving me logic questions instead of academic ones, and who _knows_ what was different on my combat portion of the test! All I want to know, is _why_ you're going easy on me, why you're treating me so _special_! Because I don't want to be treated like someone else! Sure I can fight really well surprisingly, but that doesn't mean I'm uneducated! I know my math, I know my physics, my biology, my chemistry, the only thing I don't know is _your_ history! Yet you seemed to decide that I _probably_ didn't know any of it, as I came from a different world, which I would understand, but you could've at least _asked me_ about it!" Steven ranted.

Seeing that he'd been caught, Ozpin let out a sigh. "Steven, I know you are smarter than you first thought I believed you to be. The reason I gave you a different test was because I wanted to see how you were in combat."

Steven was downright angry at him now. "Why?! You want me to be your _prized_ student? You want me to be your star student who you can show the world pointing at me going 'look at him! He's _my_ student! He learned everything he knows from _me!_ '? Well I say HELL NO to that!" Steven shouted with fury in his eyes.

"Steven, that's not why I did-" He began.

"Then why?!" Steven shouted, demanding an answer. "Enlighten me!"

Ozpin took a moment, knowing Steven would probably not like the real answer much better, so he decided to try to lie again. "I did it because…. I _knew…"_ Ozpin stated rather mysteriously. He wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the whole story clearly.

"What do you mean you _knew_? What is that supposed to mean?"

"I can't really explain it, all I know is that I just knew you were fine when it came to that test, so I decided not to bother, and I apologize" Ozpin explained, playing off the lie.

Steven didn't really know if he was being given the actual answer, but saw that he most likely wasn't going to get anything else out of Ozpin at this time. Steven simply glared at Ozpin with a look of disappointment, his arms crossed.

"I'm sorry Mr. Paxton." Ozpin said after a long silence.

Steven sighed before saying "No more special treatment. I know I _may_ be special, but just because I popped into this world not long ago, doesn't mean I want special treatment. From now on, _please_ treat me like a normal student. That's all I want." He said, having calmed down considerably. Steven may get mad from time to time, but he didn't remain that way for long, as he doesn't enjoy being mad at someone.

"Alright, fine. As of right now, you are a _normal_ student here." Ozpin declared.

"Thank you." Steven said, relieved. He sat there for a few moments. He looked at the time on his scroll, which read 8:00. It certainly didn't feel like it had been that long, but whatever, he thought to himself. "I'm going to get going now, they're serving breakfast now. Thank you for everything you've done for me once again, just remember not to treat me differently now." He said standing up from his chair about to leave.

"You have my word." Ozpin assured him.

Steven smiled. "Thank you." He said before turning around. He was part way to the elevator when he spun back around suddenly, remembering something. "I almost forgot." Steven said, taking out his wallet. "Here." He said as he gave the money he hadn't spent that Ozpin gave him in his first day back to him. "I have everything I need now."

Ozpin smiled at the gesture, but extended his hand in rejection "No. you keep it. Consider it a gift for coming to this world."

"No, I insist, take it. I couldn't possibly accept a gift like this." Steven insisted.

"Nope. It's all yours."

Steven put it on his desk, seeing as he clearly won't take it, and left it there, prompting an annoyed sigh from Ozpin, before turning back around and heading back towards the elevator before he could have a chance to give the money back to Steven. In his mind, he was just doing what he thought was right, he didn't earn the money, and it wasn't his own, so he didn't feel right having it. Steven was suddenly stopped as he was about to enter the elevator when Ozpin stopped him.

"Mr. Paxton, do you plan on telling your new friends about your past at some point? They won't look at you the same if you do or don't you know." Ozpin inquired.

Steven simply stood there for a moment, facing the elevator, and only turned his head to the side to respond. "Yes." Is all he said. He then walked into the elevator, and pressed the button for the floor with the cafeteria on it. "Have a good day Professor Ozpin." He said after turning around in the elevator before the doors closed.

* * *

Steven headed over to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast, planning on bringing it back to his room like usual. They were serving some nice scrambled eggs, bacon, and some pancakes that day, which Steven loved, and it made him happy. Steven was walking back through the cafeteria towards the entrance, but was stopped in his tracks when he heard a familiar voice call out his name behind him.

"Hey Steven! Where are you going?" Ruby asked. She was quite bright and energetic as usual, which made Steven smile a bit. She was sitting with her new team as well as team JNPR, which they had befriended.

"Oh, I'm just going back to my room is all. I like to eat by myself." He responded, rather disappointed with himself at the end.

"Why don't you come sit with us?" She offered, gesturing him to come over and sit down, sliding over a bit and patting the bench next to her with a smile.

"Well, I don't want to intrude on anything." Steven said, rather nervous.

"We don't mind, right guys?" She asked the rest of the group. Everyone gave a nod signaling that they didn't mind. "See?" She finished, a smile still on her face.

"Well, alright." Steven caved with a small roll of his eyes, and a sincere smile, before walking over to the table and sitting down between Ruby and Ren. "Good morning everyone" He said as he sat down.

"Goooood Morniiiing!" Nora sang, who sat to the right of Ren.

"Mornin'" Jaune replied, who sat across from Steven.

"Mornin' Steve" Yang replied with a smile and wave, who was sitting next to Ruby.

"Good morning" Ren formally said to Steven.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha sang with a wave and a smile, who was across from Ren.

Blake, who was sitting across from Yang, said nothing, and looked very tired, clearly not much of a morning person, but he didn't mind, he understood. Weiss, sitting across from Ruby, was caught up in a large book, which surprised him as classes didn't begin until tomorrow, and thus she didn't notice him there.

Steven started eating his breakfast with the others, all of which were busy eating for the most part. Ruby broke the ice though when she tried to talk to Weiss.

"Weiss, why are you doing school work already? Classes don't start until tomorrow."

"I like to be prepared Ruby, that way I can be ready for my classes, and do better." She responded, slightly annoyed.

"Don't you think you should just relax? You're going to stress yourself out if you do that too much." Steven said, trying to reason with her.

"I know my limits" She said rather harshly, prompting her to go deeper into her book, and making Steven roll his eyes before returning to his food.

Everyone soon began to strike up conversations with one another. Steven didn't mind that he was left out of their conversations though, he did _just_ meet them the other day, and they were team mates afterall. Not only that, but he honestly didn't notice. He was too involved with his food, his mind blank.

Jaune tried flirting with Weiss again, to no avail per usual, and prompted a few giggles around the table. If Steven were noticing, he would see that Pyrrha was somewhat bothered by it, but she did a great job of hiding it. Nora was busy fantasizing out loud about how awesome the school will be and all of the stuff they were going to do to Ren, who was either not listening, or zoning out, as he didn't say much. Ruby and Yang were teasing each other with their other teammates as well.

Steven sat there silent, and mostly idle with an unknowingly upset expression on his face, caught up in what Ozpin said earlier about telling them about his past. He didn't notice everyone's conversations casually stop though as they all began to look at him with various degrees of concern. He only noticed when Jaune finally spoke up, breaking the tension that Steven had no idea he built up.

"Steven, are you… okay over there?"

Steven looked up in surprise, then looked around to see everyone looking at him in concern, including Blake and Weiss with varying degrees, which made him embarrassed.

"Hmm? Oh, y-yeah, I'm fine." He said, saying it in the casually happiest voice he could, but he couldn't fool anyone.

"You know, we don't have any hard feelings for you from yesterday." Jaune said, trying to reassure him. The rest of team JNPR nodded in response.

"No, it's not that. I know you forgive me. It's something else." Steven said, returning to his somewhat down mood.

"You want to talk about it?" Yang said, trying to help.

Steven looked down, trying to decide if here was the place or the time. "Are you guys doing anything later?" He replied.

"Don't change the subject!" Yang said in a rather accusatory tone.

"I'm not, just please answer my question." He explained.

"I think we were just planning on hanging out in our room, getting ready for tomorrow." Ruby said.

"Yeah, we were just going to hang around too." Jaune replied. "Why do you ask?"

Steven took a moment before speaking, "I was wondering if, I dunno, since we're all now basically teammates and fellow students, I was thinking we should all sit down or something and get to know each other." He said, half hopefully, half regrettably.

"I think that's a great idea." Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, that sounds fun!" Yang said very enthusiastically.

"I think I'll pass" Weiss said, now re-focusing on her book, which prompted glares from Ruby and Yang.

"Nope, can't let you do that Weiss." Ruby said with a pop of the 'p', in a way with authority,

"And _why_ is that?" Weiss countered with attitude.

"As your team leader, I order you to be there!" Ruby said with a smile, pride in her face as she put her fists on her hips.

Weiss rolled her eyes before giving in, realizing she's fighting a losing battle. "Fine."

"Great, let's do it right after we're done here!" Yang said

"Sounds good to me" Steven said with a wide grin, but on the inside he was cringing hard, not wanting to talk about himself, but he knew he needed to.

Once they all finished, they all headed back to their rooms together. Steven stayed silent the majority of the time.

* * *

Once they got to their rooms, Ruby spoke up. "Alright! Everyone, meet us in our room when you're all ready!" She said enthusiastically.

Everyone went into their respective rooms and got changed into their normal clothes, they didn't seem to be going anywhere, so might as well be comfortable. Steven switched into his battle gear though and decided to bring his weapon with him, as he wanted to explain some things about it when he got to them.

Soon, he met everyone in team RWBY's room, where everyone was in a circle on the floor, with a spot left open for Steven in between Pyrrha and Ren.

"Hey Steven!" Ruby said with a smile and wave as usual, but then became confused along with everyone else, asking "Why did you put on your armor?"

"It'll make sense when I talk about myself." He said with a look that said he wasn't exactly excited for it. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go last as well, I have a lot to say.

"Ok. That's fine." She reassured him, "So who wants to go first?"

"I suppose I will start, then we could go clockwise from here, ending with Steven." Ren proposed. When no one objected, he began. "I am Lie Ren, but just call me Ren. I have no memory of my parents, and Nora and I have been friends for as long as I remember, doing everything together. We go around doing whatever we need to get by, and then we made it here, where we can finally make something of ourselves as hunters. I may be quiet a lot of the time, but that is just simply how I am, so don't take offense to it." He finished. "Nora, I believe it's your turn now." He finished, handing it off to Nora, who enthusiastically began.

" _Helllooooo_ everyone, I'm _Noraaaaaa,_ Nora Valkyrie." She began, as energetic and flamboyant as ever, "Ummmm, so Ren really summed it up, I never knew my parents, and then I met Ren, and we've been together since." She said with a proud smile, but quickly added, "But we're not _together_ -together." She added with a nervous giggle.

"Nora can be… energetic" Ren put lightly, "But that's how she is, so don't be frightened by her." He assured everyone.

Nora then slowly leaned over to Ren with her finger outstretched until it touched his nose, prompting her to say "Boop!"

"Alright, I guess it's my turn." Jaune began. "Name's Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it" Jaune reminded them, with a double raising of the eyebrows towards Weiss, who then scoffed at him and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. Jaune then recovered, "Anyway, I come from a long line of Arc's, all of which being heroes. My great grandfather fought in the Great War, and my father is an accomplished hunter, I'm sure you've heard of him. I live with seven sisters as well, all having different talents, so growing up kinda sucked." He said with a nervous laugh. "But, uh, yeah. That's basically me in a nutshell." He concluded. "Your turn." He said, indicating towards Blake.

"My name is Blake Belladonna." She began, she clearly didn't want to say much about herself. "I've been on the move my entire life, so this is all really new to me, so I'm sorry if I come across…" She struggled to find the words "independent, I guess… But I'm going to try my hardest to communicate." She clearly left out a few things, but no one pressed her on them, as it was none of their business, and it probably wasn't all that important anyways. "Your turn." She indicated to Yang.

"Hi everyone, I'm Yang Xiao Long!" She said overenthusiastically. "I'm Ruby's super awesome super energetic and caring older sister!" She said, hugging her sister tightly. "We come from Patch, which is just outside of Vale, and we live with our dad. He's a hunter by the way. Our mother died when Ruby was young, but we got through it as a family." She concluded with a smile. Her tone suddenly turned deathly grave as she glared at everyone, pointing at them with an accusatory finger, "And if I see you doing something bad to my sister, I _will_ hurt you." No one dared challenge her, as she clearly meant it. But she quickly returned to her usual cheery self. "Your turn Ruby!" She said enthusiastically once more, slapping her on the back.

Ruby recoiled a bit. "H-hi!" She said nervously with her hand up in a greeting manner. "I'm Ruby Rose, and I'm Yang's younger sister." Yang beamed a proud smile at this. "Um, I may be 15, and even though you're supposed to be 17 to enter Beacon, Professor Ozpin let me in early because of my abilities. But don't treat me like a kid!" she said in an authoritative way. "I've wanted to become a huntress all my life from all the stories I read when I was younger, and I'm _super_ happy to finally be here! I love weapons, I'm not really great with making friends, aaaaand, yeah. That's about it." She finished. Steven had to disagree with the 'not great with making friends part', as she's been nothing but nice and friendly to him from the start. "Your turn Weiss." She said encouragingly.

"I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. I am not some sort of girly girl that constantly asks for dad's money." She quickly got out of the way to dispel any stereotypes. "I am here to become a huntress so I may pursue my own life that isn't boring business meetings or anything like that. Plain and simple." She finished, clearly wanting to get out of this so she could get back to preparing for tomorrow.

"Short and sweet, I like it." Jaune said, dreamy eyed.

Weiss scoffed at him again before turning to Pyrrha. "Your turn Pyrrha."

"Hello, I'm sure many of you already know who I am but I'll continue anyways. I am Pyrrha Nikos of Mistral. I have been training to become a Huntress for many years. I graduated at the top of my class at Sanctum, won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row, which is a new record, and yes, I was on the face of the Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes cereal box," She said with slight regret at the last part. "I'm excited to be here and make new friends, and I'm sure we'll have a wonderful four years together." She finished with a bright smile. "Your turn Steven." She said smiling towards him.

Steven began with a sigh to calm himself down. "Before I start, please, don't look at me differently than you do now, I don't want to be treated special." He began.

" _Oooookayyy._ " Yang said uneasily, before chuckling. "Sounds like _someone_ is nervous at sharing even though it was _his_ idea." She teased him.

Steven glared at her in response and growled a bit in frustration. "So, uh… I'm Steven, Steven Paxton, you can call me Steve if you want, I don't really care, and uh…." Steven stopped for a moment, closing his eyes and looking down to avoid everyone's gaze, "…I-… I'm not from here." He finally said.

Everyone looked at him in confusion like something was wrong with him.

"Um, I don't think _any_ of us are _from_ here." Weiss snapped.

"No, you don't understand." He continued, but was interrupted by Ruby.

"Are you from a small town? A village?" She tried to guess, trying to make him feel better.

"Are you a roamer like us?" Nora asked, signaling her and Ren.

"No. It's much different than that." He said, his head still looking down.

"Then what is it?" Ruby asked anxiously.

"I'm…" He began, but was interrupted by Nora

"Come on, spit it out!"

"Could you all stop interrupting me?!" Steven snapped. "I'm not from Remnant!" He finally said.

It took a moment for everyone to process what he just said, but they weren't really understanding it completely.

"W-what do you mean you're not from Remnant?" Ruby asked cautiously.

"I'm from a different planet." He answered, sending everyone into shock, but quickly added "But I'm not some sort of alien or something! So don't get any ideas!"

All of them quickly snapped out of their shock though, they didn't believe them. Yang, Ruby, Nora, and Jaune began to laugh, Weiss and Pyrrha began to giggle, while Blake and Ren just smiled in disbelief.

"That's a good one man, but really, where are you from?" Yang said, wiping a tear from her eye. Steven was furious.

"What, you think I'm joking?!" He snapped at Yang, a _very_ serious face appearing on him.

Yang kept laughing, thinking he would start laughing soon, realizing Steven's 'joke' didn't work, but stopped after everyone else did, realizing that he was still serious.

"You can't possibly be serious, can you?" She added quickly, slightly afraid. Everyone was now looking at Steven with a concerned look.

"I'm serious." He said sternly. "I'm not from Remnant." He reasserted. Everyone looked at him in horror.

"Then… where are you from?" Yang asked cautiously, having regretted her actions.

"I'm from a planet very similar to yours, called Earth." He began, "Let me explain how I got here, and please bear with me, it's hard for me to retell this story." Everyone nodded in acknowledgement.

"Take your time." Ruby said, still in shock.

Steven went on to describe the details of the collision he and his family were in, tearing up at the memory, then about the feelings he had before appearing in the forest. He then tells about his long trek through the woods, before encountering the Grimm, and his actions that followed, in detail. He described the fight, his semblance, and what not. He then told about what happened when Ozpin found him and took him to Beacon about three weeks ago, and what transpired in his office. He then told of the opportunity Ozpin gave him, one he would kill to have on Earth, and how he took it. He then trained intensively, and ended up passing the test, bringing him here.

Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder with a look of horror on her face, which was shared among mostly everyone else's face.

"You must think I'm crazy, but here's the only proof I can offer." He said, as everyone looked on him in silence. He took out the photograph of his family, careful not to take out the one with Jenny, and put it faced down in the middle of the circle.

Yang was the first to cautiously pick it up, before looking at it and quietly gasping in horror in the silent room. Everyone watched as her eyes teared up at the sight of the picture, before moving her eyes to Steven's in a look of sympathy. "Is this your…" She started, and Steven nodded in response.

She then froze in place, causing Ruby to take the picture from her sister's hands, and having the same general reaction. Weiss took the picture and put her head in her hands before saying "oh, dust."

Pyrrha took the picture from Weiss, looking at it, then looking at Steven in horror filled sympathy. Ren then took it, and simply closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose at the picture, passing it to Nora, who had a much similar reaction to Yang and Ruby. Jaune took it and had a similar reaction too, and Blake copied Weiss before returning the photo to the center of the circle.

Steven then hung his head low, tears falling from his eyes, then saying "I'm sorry I brought you all into this, but I felt like you all needed to know." He said, his voice trembling. Ruby suddenly appeared behind him, hugging him tightly from behind in a trail of rose petals, having used her semblance to go over to him. "Please, Ruby, I'm fine." He said turning to her, wiping a tear from his eye, and reassuring her. "I know what has happened to me is… unfortunate… but I'm living the life of my _dreams_ right now. This is something that I couldn't have on Earth."

Everyone brightened up a bit, now somewhat fascinated with him.

"But what about your _family_?" Yang asked.

After a moment, Steven said with confidence, "I believe they're out there. It doesn't make sense what happened to me, but I feel like the same thing could've happened to them too." He said with hope. "It's just a matter of time I believe. But this brings me to something else I'd like to address that pertains to yesterday." He added. "There was a voice in my head when I… acted up… and it took control of me. It told me that I wasn't brought here on accident, among other things, but it gave me hope. So I believe they're out there."

Now cheered up enough to not be super depressed, Pyrrha asked "How did you regain control? We were almost lunchmeat before you snapped out of it" She added.

"I simply… didn't allow the voice to control me anymore. It's hard to explain, but when I saw what my body was about to do, I simply couldn't let it happen, and stopped it." He said. "Look, guys, I know this is a lot to take in all of a sudden, and I'm sorry, but I'm telling the truth. I'll stop talking about it though and save the rest for another time," he began, but Ruby cut him off.

"No, we're okay. To be honest, I'm interested in Earth and what it's like. Could you tell us about it?" She said, bouncing up and down excitedly, trying to lighten the mood.

Steve couldn't help but smile at the little ball of energy, effectively cheering him up. He let out a sigh of relief at the notion that everyone seemed to be taking his news better than he thought they would. Everyone encouraged him, they were interested in what he had to say. Steven chuckled a little. "Alright, I'll tell you about Earth. Earth is a planet very similar to yours, but also very different." He began. "It had seven continents, vast oceans, and one singular intact moon. We are very technologically advanced as well, much like you, in fact very many things are similar, but we don't have airships, we have planes and helicopters." Steven went into detail about what they were, which Ruby found absolutely fascinating. "Our main source of energy isn't dust either, we use oil and electricity essentially, the former being a limited resource unfortunately. Additionally, Earth is home to over 7.4 billion people."

" _what_?!" Yang said in disbelief. "But what about the Grimm?"

Steven answered in a grim and dismal tone "We have no Grimm… we only have each other, which essentially makes our planet worse than yours."

"Why is that?" Blake asked.

"From what I've gathered, all of the people on this planet are working together to live in peace and to fight off these beasts of darkness that you call the Grimm. Without that common goal, on Earth, there is always a war raging on. Whether it's small or large depends on who is involved. We don't have four kingdoms, we have over 200 countries, each one different, varying in size and population, often speaking a different language, having a different culture, and adopting different ideologies. Where I'm from, ideology is what starts major wars, other times it's precious resources, such as war over oil like I mentioned earlier, which powers almost everything on Earth. Civil wars happen all the time in poorer nations, and even in richer ones. We've had two world wars in the last 100 years, and countless others. Ways of making world peace have been attempted, but in the end, only one person needs to defy it and ruin it all to destroy it. My country hasn't been directly attacked by another in over 200 years, but no one knew what the future could bring. What made matters worse, terrible weapons had been made. Thankfully, I don't believe you have the elements to create them, otherwise they would have been made already, and probably used, but we have nuclear weapons. Made with extremely volatile and unstable elements, namely Uranium and Plutonium, it's a small bomb that can level a city and destroy everything in it in the blink of an eye. And although we were the first nation to make them, we were also the first to use them, helping to bring an end to the Second World War by dropping two of them, two different cities, but at an immense cost. We are not the only nation with nuclear weapons, and thus, we are constantly under the threat of annihilation, but the risk is different from day to day. However, despite all of these bad things, we have been able to become technologically advanced as a race, achieving space flight, and even landing on the moon a few times, as well as send some satellites into space to study and learn about our solar system."

After a few minutes to take in the information, Jaune spoke up. "So, what is your country that you're from?"

Steven smiled and took off one of his shoulders. "This is my country." He said, pointing to the American flag. "The United States of America. We're a democratic society, and are composed of 50 states on the same continent, all bound together under one banner. We're the most technologically advanced civilization in the world, although not by too far, as the world itself is very modern, but we are the major innovators and economic powerhouse of the world. We strive for world peace, and some nations hate us because sometimes we try too hard. We're also one of Earth's three superpowers, countries that have nuclear weapons, large trade output, and the best economies. I love my country, and I am very patriotic over it, and I don't want to forget about it, which is why I put my flag on my armor and my weapon."

"So, I have a quick question." Nora said after he finished, "You said that you can't become a warrior there like you can here. Why is that?"

"Well, for starters, the only types of warriors we have now are soldiers. Fighting as parts of an army for the common goal to protect the nation we are serving for, and its way of life. We don't have a common enemy like you all have, we have each other as our enemies. There is no 'protecting innocent people and doing what you think is morally right' there like there is here, which is what I always dreamed of."

"What about the Faunus on Earth? What are they like?" Blake asked, no one noticing the seriousness in her tone.

"We don't have Faunus on Earth, it's just humans. And, as I've been able to witness, much to my disappointment, I know there is racism between humans and Faunus here, which is terrible, it really is. On Earth, however, with the Faunus removed from the equation, that leaves the racism to fall on other humans. On Earth, many judge others because of the simple color of their skin. Others, their nationality, etc." Steven finished with a tone and look of disgust.

Everyone was disturbed by what they were just told as well. No one else spoke up with any questions after that. Steven took the opportunity to summarize.

"I do miss my home on Earth, believe me, I do, but I like it here better. The world is much more peaceful, and war hasn't happened in a long time from what I can gather, not to mention I could become what I've always dreamed of here!" He said. After a few moments he continued, "However, I don't want anyone to treat me in some special sort of way, I want you all to treat me like you'd treat each other, as a hunter, as a friend, as a teammate, but not someone who is from a different planet." He finished.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Steven sighed in immense relief. "Thank you everyone, for listening to what I had to say, for understanding me, and for accepting me." He said very sincerely. "It really means a lot to me." He said, a tear trailing down his face.

Ruby hugged him again.

Steven chuckled. "Thanks Ruby." He said, returning the gesture. Steven began to laugh "Fortunately for me, you all speak the same language as I do" Everyone else chuckled in response.

After a long silence, a loud rumble could be heard from Nora's stomach area.

"Wow, what time is it?" She asked. Everyone looked at the time, and saw it was well past noon time, and time for lunch.

"I say it's time for us to grab a bite to eat!" Yang said enthusiastically.

"That sounds like a good idea. Mind if we come with?" Jaune asked.

"Nope, not at all." Ruby responded.

"What about you Steve, want to join us?" Jaune offered.

"Sure, I'd love to join you guys." He replied.

* * *

With that, they all went to lunch, and sat down together. Steven couldn't be happier with how things turned out today, with how well they took everything, and once again, how quick they were about accepting him. He enjoyed lunch with his new friends and teammates, and afterwards went around touring the school with them, starting to learn the layout of the place. Afterwards they ate dinner, and then went back to their dorms to have some fun playing games and such, minus Weiss who was already studying, and Blake, who was reading.

Soon, they all went to bed, but when Steven was leaving team RWBY's room, Ruby and Jaune stopped him before he turned in for the night.

"Hey, Steve, could we talk to you for a second?" Ruby asked him.

"Yeah, sure, what's up?" he asked a little surprised.

"So, me and Jaune were talking earlier…" she started, her left arm grabbing her right wrist, and her foot twirling on the ground. "and we were thinking about how you have no team…" she continued.

Jaune finished for her, saying "A-and we would like to tell you that you're always welcome on both of our teams. We've already talked to everyone, and they're okay with it." He said.

"Well, except for Weiss, but don't worry about her, she'll warm up to you eventually I think." Ruby added.

Steven was in utter disbelief. He couldn't believe what he just heard, and it made him so happy to hear it, that he just looked at them dumbstruck, standing in front of them.

"Steve, are you oka-" Ruby began, but was cut off by a large hug that Steven gave both of them.

"Thank you _so_ much you guys!" He said gratuitously, muffled by the shoulders of the two of them, before letting them go. "You have _no idea_ how much this means to me, you really don't. I don't know how I could possibly repay you guys for everything you've done for me!"

"You don't need to repay us! Just be yourself and work hard! I'm sure you'll get a team someday, you never know!" Ruby said with hope.

"Yeah, you never know. Plus, maybe more than just your family came here by the way you made it sound earlier." Jaune added, which made Steven smile.

"Actually, that's not very flawed logic, that makes perfect sense. Yeah, you're right. Maybe some of my old friends made it here. I mean, I know it's a long shot, but it's certainly a possibility." Steven smiled. "Alright, is that all? I'm gonna go hit the hay now if that's alright with you."

"Yeah, we were about to go to bed too." Ruby replied.

"Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow then. We have the same classes, so we'll see each other then." Jaune said, ending their conversation with a yawn.

"Alright, goodnight you guys. See you in the morning." Steven said.

* * *

 _Then they all went into their respective rooms and got into bed, ready for the next day, their first day of classes at Beacon academy. It's going to be one helluva ride for Steven, it'll be just like starting High School all over again. But now that he has some new friends, he should have a much better time on this world._

 _However, many secrets are yet to be revealed to Steven. He purposely left out Jenny for a reason, one that he is not sure of himself, but knows it to be important. Little does he know that she is here, and others are as well. It's just a matter of time before one of them is found._

 _But that will not be for quite some time. For now, Steven should try to enjoy himself, and learn about this new world with he is in during his classes. Tune in next chapter for_ _Chapter 6: High School take 2._


	7. Chapter 6: High School Take 2

**(A/N): Hey everyone! sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, I've been a little busy. Here's a long chapter for you though, hope you enjoy! Dont forget to leave a review if you feel like it deserves one!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: High School Take 2**

* * *

Even though Beacon is a combat academy, it felt very much like High school to Steven. Your friends were therein your classes, you sat together at lunch, the only difference was that you also lived together, and trained and fought together. The experience is probably much closer to college, but Steven wouldn't know, as he was _going_ to be applying his next year at school on Earth, but he has no need for that anymore now that he is attending a prestigious combat school on a different planet.

Steven woke up rather excited, ready for his classes, excited for the experience again. Getting out of bed with a stretch, Steven grabs his uniform and towel and other necessities before heading to the showers. After finishing up, he goes back to his room to put away what he needed, made his bed, and grabbed the necessary items he needed for his first class, before heading to breakfast.

Once he got there, Steven grabbed some breakfast, some bacon, eggs and hash browns, and went to go sit down with teams RWBY and JNPR who were already there. Nora was already stuffing her face with pancakes, and Weiss was still looking at her book, while Blake was reading her own while eating breakfast named "The Man with Two Souls". 'Sounds like an interesting story' he thought, before sitting down between Jaune and Ren, and across from Blake.

"Mornin' everyone." Steven greeted them with a smile.

"Good Morning!" Pyrrha sang from the right of Jaune.

"Mornin." Jaune, Ruby, and Yang said simultaneously.

" _GOOOOOOD_ MORNIIIIIIING!" Nora shouted, prompting Ren to cover her mouth with his hand, as well as some nasty looks from around the cafeteria.

"Sorry about that." Ren apologized for her. "Good morning Steven." Steven chuckled.

"Hi" Weiss said, waving her hand while focusing on her book, prompting an elbow to her side by Ruby. Blake stayed silent, caught up in her book still.

Steven started to eat, but soon tried to strike up a conversation with Blake. Steven liked reading books, as long as the story interested him, so if he heard about a good book, he could probably find a bookstore in Vale over the weekend or something. Swallowing his food before speaking, Steven asked her, "Hey, Blake, what's that book you're reading about?" he said, looking interested.

Blake was slightly startled upon hearing her name, as she was zoned out from her book, but nonetheless turned her attention towards Steven.

"Huh? Oh, umm, it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over of his body."

"Hmm" Steven hummed in interest. "Sounds interesting. I may have to grab a copy of it myself someday."

"You like reading?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, I love reading. So long as the topic interests me, and that sounds pretty interesting."

"Oh, I love books too!" Yang said enthusiastically in response.

"Oh, really? What have you been reading lately?" Steven said interested.

"Yang, you didn't bring any books wi-" Ruby began before Yang's hand covered her mouth forcefully.

"I got this new book on Gravity recently, I haven't been able to put it down" She finished with a smug and clever smile on her face.

Nora burst out laughing, while Jaune, Pyrrha, Steven, and Ruby chuckled. Ren smiled, and Blake rolled her eyes with a smile before returning to her book, Weiss didn't seem to notice.

A wicked smile appeared across Yang's face as she looked at Weiss, who was oblivious to what was happening.

"Hey Ice Queen, why you giving us the _cold shoulder?_ " She managed to say before bursting out laughing, causing her to grab her stomach as she was reeling with laughter.

Ruby thought it was equally as funny, but stopped laughing long before her sister. Ren simply smiled, as Nora and Steven chuckled furiously.

"Oh, grow up Yang!" Weiss snapped with a very annoyed look on her face.

Jaune tried to defend her, saying "Hey, leave the beautiful lady alone Yang. She did nothing wrong."

"Not a chance, Arc." Weiss snapped, equally as annoyed, causing Jaune's self-esteem to temporarily plummet. As he slouched over, Steven looked to Pyrrha for her reaction, catching a brief moment of her face; a combination of being bothered by what seemed to be Weiss' harsh reply, and a small bit of longing. The expression quickly faded away, however, but Steven paid no further attention, as he could easily be just misinterpreting.

They all finished their breakfast soon after, conversing with each other before they all had to go to class together.

As Steven was talking with Ruby and Jaune about weapons, their conversation was cut short when something was thrown at Steven's back. Thinking it was an accident, Steven and Jaune turned around, not noticing Ruby's face as they did so, clearly knowing it wasn't an accident.

Steven looked behind him to see that there were scrambled eggs on the floor, and on the back of his uniform. He then looked up to see a group of four people laughing hysterically at Steven, some pointing their fingers at him.

"Looks like you got a lil' somethin' on your back there" The taller of the group said, a well-built guy with light brown hair, almost orange, which was combed back.

Steven gave him an evil and unamused glare, prompting the man, known as Cardin, to develop a smug grin.

Jaune started to get up to go defend his friend, but Steven dragged him back down, telling him that he wasn't worth it.

"So there are bullies here too…" Steven said, unamused, but he knew the answer, there was _always_ that one person.

"Don't mind him Steve, he's just a jerk." Ruby said

"Oh, I know. He isn't bothering me, it's hard for people like him to get to me, so don't worry about me." He replied with a reassuring smile.

Soon, the two teams and extra member headed to their first class, Mr. Port's class.

* * *

Upon entering the room, Steven recognized it as a sort of lecture hall. He'd never taken a class in one before, so it would be a new experience in a way. Steven sat near the front, the the right of all of team RWBY, against the wall. At the front of the room was one large board with several diagrams of the various Grimm known throughout the world hanging above the wall. There was one on a King Taijitsu, a large snake Grimm, one on Beowolves, another on Ursai, one on DeathStalkers, one on Borbatusks and the last on Nevermores. This class was the class that essentially was Biology, where they learned about the monster menace that thrived on Remnant, the Grimm.

After everyone got settled in, a man of average height wearing a red suit with gold accents, gray hair that was combed to both sides from the top, very large gray eyebrows, and a large gray moustache walked out of the door on the left side of the room, which was most likely his office. Professor Port walked out in front of all of the students, his right hand behind his back, into the center of the floor on which he stood on, which had his board along with his desk.

Steven could tell he was a gentleman to some degree by the way he dressed, kept his hair, and walked around. His voice only confirmed this.

Professor Port's voice was booming, and somewhat exaggerated, but not harsh. "Good morning class, I am professor Port, your Grimm Studies teacher for the year." He began. Professor Port clearly had a planned introduction to his class, as he began with an entirely different attitude; "Monsters! _Deeeeemons._ Prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as _prey_." He finishes with a loud chuckle.

' _Great_ ' Steven thought to himself, ' _Another teacher that's full of themselves. He'll probably go on frequent rants about his glory days too_ '. Steven rolled his eyes at the thought.

The whole class was silent, no one laughing at his joke. No one was amused.

"uhhh…" Professor Port began, expecting a reaction. "And you shall too upon graduating from this prestigious academy." He finished. "Now as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces, and that's where we come in. Huntsmen! _Huntresses_ ," He said, with a distinct suggestive click in his mouth with a wink.

Steven could tell no one was amused. Yang rolled her eyes.

"Individuals that have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves." He continued. "From what, you ask? Why, the very world! That is what you are training to become, but first, a story."

' _Oh, great. Here it comes_ ' Steven thought. He saw a rant coming from miles away.

"A tale of a young, _handsome_ man. Me! When I was a boy…" He began, but Steven then zoned out, figuring this had absolutely _nothing_ to do with what he _could_ be learning, but instead the old guy was going to be reminiscing, and probably often by the way it looked.

Weiss let out a sigh, clearly unamused. Steven looked over to Ruby at the end of the row, seeing as she was giggling quite a bit. Steven could tell she was not taking notes on her paper either.

Steven zoned back in to Port's story. "Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter', he told me," Steven zoned out again, noticing Ruby's giggling once more. Weiss noticed too, and was not very amused by her partner.

Ruby then lifted up her paper to show Weiss what she was doing, revealing a crudely drawn picture of Professor Port, with exaggeration on his fatness, and with stench lines coming from his body, under which was written 'PROFESSOR POOP'.

Yes, it was childish, but Steven chuckled anyways, as he was still a child on the inside. Yang and Blake also thought it pretty funny, but Weiss just glared at Ruby, clearly unamused.

Seeing the distraction in front of him, but not the drawing, Professor Port made a loud, intentional clearing of his throat, bringing their attention back to him. Once he saw their attention return to him, he continued, "In the end, the Beowulf was no match for my _sheer tenacity_! And I returned to my village with the beast in captivity, and my head held high, celebrated _as a hero_!" He said, his head high in a combination of pride and reminiscence, before giving a bow, his right hand behind him, his left over his chest. "The moral of the story?" He asked for the audience. At this moment Weiss was glaring at Ruby again, who was not paying attention again, trying to balance her book and an apple on a pencil in her fingertip. "A true huntsman must be _honorable_." Weiss' glare and frustration with her partner and leader increased as she was taking a nap now. "A true huntsman must be _dependable_." Weiss anger only increased. "A true huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and _wise_." He finished. Ruby was now picking her nose, and has not shown any of the traits he just described ironically. Weiss was shaking in frustration. "So, _who_ among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Weiss immediately shot her hand up. "I do sir!" She said, an annoyed and determined look on her face.

"Well, then, let's find out." He began, slowly looking over his shoulder to the right at a cage with four red eyes staring out of it. "Step forward, and face your opponent."

Weiss did so, bringing Myrtenaster, her fencing sword-like weapon that was decorated, and had a dust cylinder near the hilt, allowing her to switch between various kinds of dust for many advantages at will.

She assumed a ready position, ready for her opponent to come out.

" _Go_ Weiss!" Yang cheered in encouragement, pumping her fist in the air simultaneously.

"Fight well!" Blake cheered, waving a small red flag on a stick with "RWBY" written on it in white letters.

"Yeah! Represent _teeeeeam_ RWBY!" Ruby shouted, putting both of her fists up in pride and encouragement.

"Ruby! I'm _trying_ to focus!" Weiss snapped at her leader, causing her to recover her arms.

"Oh, sorry" Ruby said with a nervous and apologetic smile.

"Alright," Professor Port began, his blunderbuss with two battle axe blades on the stock in his hand, "Let the match begin!" He said, striking the lock on the cage with his weapon, breaking it.

The cage door dropped down, revealing a large boar-like Grimm with four red eyes within it, a Boarbatusk. The same creatures that Steven had fought during his exam, in the beginning anyways.

The Grimm snarled before charging at Weiss, which she dodged, slashing her sword at the creatures' side, but to no effect, the armor plating on its' sides protecting it from the strike, and then somersaulted. She got into a ready pose as the Grimm stopped and turned towards her.

"Ha Ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Port said.

"Hang in there Weiss!" Ruby cheered, trying to encourage her partner and teammate.

Weiss dashed forward with amazing speed towards the Grimm, which was charging at her, trying to stab it, her sword pointed at the enemy. However, the boar saw it coming, turning its head to deflect the blow, and move the sword down enough to be caught between its tusks, then bringing it back up to hit Weiss in the abdomen. Now stopped, Weiss desperately tried to free her sword from the large tusks of the Boarbatusk, which was trying to tug at her to pull her to the ground.

"Bold new approach! I like it!" Port said, not realizing that it was actually a mistake.

"Come on Weiss! Show it who's boss!" Ruby said encouragingly.

Weiss looked over to Ruby, letting her guard down, allowing the Grimm to free the weapon from its opponents hands, and throw it away behind it, disarming Weiss. It then threw its head forward, knocking Weiss off of her feet in her distracted state.

"Ho Ho! Now what will you do without you weapon?" Port commented.

Weiss quickly got up, barely managing to jump to the side before the Grimm charged into her. The Grimm kept going, hitting the desk, knocking it onto its back in a daze. Weiss took the opportunity to run for her weapon, grabbing it quickly.

"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's _no_ armor underneath-" Ruby began, trying to help her team mate.

"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" Weiss shouted back at her leader very angrily, not used to taking commands. Ruby was very taken aback by Weiss' harshness towards her, and put on a sad face to show. She was only trying to help her partner.

The Grimm then jumped into the air and started spinning very rapidly in a vertical fashion, almost like a ball, before hitting the ground and taking off at an amazing speed towards its opponent.

Weiss was ready, and cast a glyph in front of her and one behind and above her with her semblance. The Boarbatusk slammed right into the glyph in front of her, and was knocked onto its back from the recoil of the sudden collision. Weiss capitalized on the moment, jumping into the air towards the glyph behind her, and launching herself from it towards the Grimm, impaling it in the stomach, killing it.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears that we are indeed in the presence of a _true_ huntress in training." Professor Port commented. Weiss was panting from the battle, before recomposing herself. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today." Weiss was now looking at Ruby again, who was slowly lowering her head in sadness. "Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and… _stay vigilant!_ Class dismissed!" He finished.

Weiss glared at Ruby again before turning around and leaving on her own. Everyone was watching her.

"Sheesh, what's with her?" Jaune said quietly.

Blake and Yang looked at each other with unsureity and concern. Eventually everyone got up and started to leave the classroom.

Steven walked over to Ruby. "You okay Ruby?" He asked gently.

"I'm fine. I need to go talk to Weiss." She said quickly, with urgency in her voice, before running ahead after Weiss. Steven looked back at Yang and Blake with a concerned look, which they also had on their face.

* * *

In the hallway, Ruby finally caught up to her partner. " _Weiss_!"

" _What_?!" the heiress said in a haughty and slightly hostile tone.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you being-" She began, cut off by Weiss.

"What's wrong with me?! What's wrong with _you?!_ You're supposed to be our leader, and all you've been so far is a _nuisance_!" Ruby hung her head low for a second before rebuttleing with a small snort.

"What did I do?!"

"That's _just it_!" She exclaimed with her arms outstretched to her sides in exaggeration before recovering them and pointing at Ruby accusingly with her right hand. "You've done _nothing_ to earn your position! Back in the forest you acted like a child! And you've only continued to do so!" She finished. Ruby was taken aback slightly, flinching slightly at the end of each sentence as if it hurt her.

"Weiss, where is this coming from?" Ruby asked calmly, concerned. "What happened to all the talk about working together, I thought you believed in acting as a team."

"Not a team led by _you_." Weiss finished harshly. "I've studied, _and_ trained, and quite frankly I deserve better!" she finished, turning around with her arms folded. Ruby outstretched her hand, about to say something, but recoiled when Weiss dealt the final blow, "Ozpin made a _mistake_."

Ruby turned around, head hung in sadness, but was stopped before she could go anywhere by none other than Professor Ozpin, who had been listening to the entire conversation from around the corner.

"Mmmmm." He hummed. "Now that didn't seem to go very well." He said.

"Is she right? Did you make a mistake?" Ruby said, her voice and face evident with sadness, her hands held in a loose fist together in front of her chest. Her eyes looked up to him with sorrow as well that showed she doubted herself thanks to Weiss.

"That remains to be seen." He began, reassuring her. Ruby straightened her posture, waiting for him to continue.

* * *

Meanwhile Weiss was walking through the hall towards one of the many open balconies in the school, coming upon Professor Port gazing out into the city of Vale in the sunset at the railing. Weiss walked up to him from behind.

"Professor Port!" She said with delight, catching his attention.

The man then turned around, "Ah, Ms. Schnee! And to what do I owe this _fine_ pleasure?" He asked politely, giving a small bow.

"I-I enjoyed your lecture!" She said.

"Of course you did child, you have the blood of a true huntress in you!" he responded.

"You really think so?!" Weiss asked excitedly.

"Most surely!" He acknowledged. Weiss then looked to the side, turning her smile into a frown, which the professor saw and asked her about. "hmm, something's troubling you." He stated.

"Yes sir." She said with a sigh, somewhat saddened by what she had to say.

"Dear girl confess to me your strife!" he said, rather heroically.

"Well….I-I think I should've been the leader of team RWBY!" she finally confessed.

Professor Port looked at her a moment, his expression unchanging, before saying, "That's preposterous!"

* * *

Back with Ruby and Ozpin, Ozpin began to explain his reasoning.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked him, unsure of herself.

"I mean it's only been one day." He said with a slight chuckle. "Ruby… I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and _child_ on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them." He then leaned towards her, being in her face a bit, but at more eye level with her. "Do you?" he asked.

* * *

" _Excuse_ me?" Weiss asked in surprise, and with an attitude, unhappy with the unexpected reaction of her Professor.

"I've believed in Professor Ozpin for many years, and the man's never once led me astray!" He explained.

"So you'd just _blindly_ accept his decision, even after seeing how exceptional I am?" Weiss asked I surprise, and some selfishness.

"With all due respect, your exceptional skill on the battlefield is matched only by your _poor_ attitude." He stated frankly.

"How _dare_ you!" she stated with attitude. Her eyes were now glaring at him

"My point _exactly_." He continued. "I see a girl before me who has spent her entire life getting _exactly_ what she wanted." He concluded.

"That's not even _remotely_ true!" She declared, folding her arms in annoyance, looking to the side, her eyes closed and head slightly up with attitude. Professor Port raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. "Well…" She continued. "not _entirely_ true." She confessed.

* * *

"Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly." Ozpin explained. "If you were not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?" He finished, making Ruby smile in realization.

* * *

"So the outcome did not fall in your favor." Professor Port continued, "Do you really believe that acting in such a manner would cause those in power to reconsider their decision?" He countered. Weiss began to lose her attitude, unfolding her arms at the realization. "So instead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you _do_. Hone your skills, perfect every technique, and be not the best _leader_ , but the best _person_ you can be." He explained.

Weiss was rather taken aback by what he had to say, but she realized that he was completely right. She let out a small smile.

* * *

Ozpin turned back around before saying "You've been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby… I advise you take some time to think about how you will uphold it." He finished, before walking away back to his office.

Ruby turned around to look down the hallway at Weiss on the balcony, with Professor Port starting to walk away. She began to walk towards her, but decided that it was best to leave her alone for the time being. Ruby then decided to go back to her room and study.

* * *

Later that night, Weiss returned to her room to see everyone else asleep. Blake was asleep on the right in the bottom bunk in her black nightgown. Yang was snoring asleep on the bed above hers, held up by many of Blake's books in an orange tank top with her emblem on it, and black shorts.

Weiss went over to Ruby's bed, which was above hers, suspended by several rope from the ceiling above her own bed, and moved the sheet that went over Ruby's bed like a tent almost, to reveal that Ruby had fallen asleep while studying, in her black tank top and white pants with roses on them, her blindfold on her forehead, a pencil in her hand next to a paper, and books all across her bed.

Weiss was honestly taken aback to see that Ruby, the one she called a child who was irresponsible and uneducated earlier, was _studying_. There was also an empty coffee mug next to her pillow with the Beacon Academy logo on the side.

Weiss then tapped Ruby on the shoulder, shaking her awake. Ruby slowly awoke, but was startled when she quickly realized that she fell asleep while studying.

She suddenly sprang up, "Weiss! I.. I-I was studying, and then I fell asleep, I'm sorry!" She hurriedly explained.

Weiss simply covered Ruby's mouth with one hand, and put a finger to her own lips with the other, telling her to stay quiet, as to not wake the others. She then looked over and noticed the empty coffee mug before asking Ruby "How do you take your coffee?", then uncovered Ruby's mouth.

"uh..I-I don-"

"Answer the question!" Weiss interrupted, slightly annoyed, but in a quiet, composed, and non-hostile manner.

"Uh… cream and five sugars!" Ruby quickly spat out.

Weiss let out a sigh and a small roll of her ice blue eyes. ' _No wonder she has so much energy'_ she thought to herself. "Don't move." She said, disappearing under Ruby's bed.

Ruby scratched her head in confusion, why was Weiss being so nice to her all of a sudden?

Within moments, Weiss came back and stood on her bed to reach Ruby's, this time with a coffee mug with coffee within it. "Here." She said to Ruby, handing her the mug with a smile and a look in her eyes saying that she is regretful of what she said to her leader and partner earlier.

Ruby, taken aback at Weiss' sudden change in mood, took the mug, and could only reply with "Um…thanks Weiss." With sincerity.

Weiss then looked towards Ruby's pillow, trying to figure out how to put something, until she spoke up. "Ruby…I think you have what it takes to be a good leader." Ruby smiled at Weiss with sincerity. "Just know… that _I_ am going to be _best_ teammate you will ever have." Weiss said with true sincerity. "Good luck studying." She finished, relieved at getting that weight off her shoulders, before disappearing below. However she soon popped back up, pointing at something Ruby had written down on her paper, saying "That's wrong by the way." In a helpful manner, then descending once more. Weiss then walked over to the door, walking back into the hallway, but looking back into the room before leaving. "Hey Ruby?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"I always wanted bunk beds as a kid." Weiss said with a smile. When the team had arranged the beds after figuring out they brought too much stuff to put their beds conventionally, Weiss was the only one opposed to the idea of bunk beds. The fact that she sincerely enjoyed them meant volumes to Ruby. Weiss then closed the door, heading out to train hard to become a better huntress. Ruby turned back around and continued her studying, very happy with what had happened that night after the events that transpired earlier.

* * *

The next morning, everyone woke up around 6 or 6:30 in the morning to get up and get ready for their classes, heading to get breakfast beforehand.

Upon sitting down at their usual table, Steven could clearly see that the relationship between Ruby and Weiss had somewhat improved, which made him happy, seeing his friends figure out their differences so they can work together for the betterment of themselves and their team.

Jaune greeted Weiss upon sitting down, trying to undoubtedly woo her once more. " _Good_ morning Snow angle" He said in a suave tone. Steven had to admit, the guy must have boat loads of confidence, either that or he just doesn't take 'no' for an answer, as he was always like this towards Weiss.

Weiss scowled at Jaune, sending him crashing to the ground as usual.

On a hunch, Steven looked over at Pyrrha while Jaune tried to woo her again, and noticed the same pained and longing look on her face as the day before, but quickly hiding it, as if expertly, or as if she didn't want anyone to notice.

' _Something's up'_. Steven thought to himself. ' _I just need to figure out what it is.'_ He concluded.

Steven was very good at reading others. It was a natural talent of his. However, he hated to see something troubling his friends and teammates. Often times, Steven would confront them privately about what's troubling them, offering his help or his ears or whatever they needed to make sure they were okay. Steven was always that kind of person, caring for his friends, making sure they were alright often before caring for himself. He is that compassionate, and that caring. Either that or his friends would often come to him about a problem. With Steven being trustworthy, not one to tell others what someone doesn't want them to know or what isn't their business, and great at keeping secrets, he's the perfect person to confide in.

Steven decided to wait for now before confronting Pyrrha, seeing if either she gets over it soon, or until he could figure out what's bothering her, and Steven preferred the latter option. Steven kept his eye on her, although she didn't know it, just to make sure as the days went on.

* * *

After breakfast, they all headed to their class for the day, history with Dr. Oobleck. ' _What a strange name_ ' Steven thought to himself, hoping it wasn't a sign or something about the teacher. Steven was also one to not judge a book by its cover, but sometimes he couldn't help it. It happens to everyone.

It turned out that Oobleck, a skinny, tall man with large glasses and spiky, out of control green hair, wearing a white dress shirt that was half tucked into his green pants, and with a green tie, was a very, _very_ energetic person. Speaking very fast, often faster than most could understand, he drank coffee like he had been in the desert for a week and was finally getting much needed water, taking sips of his coffee mug, which was practically glued to his hand, every couple sentences. He even zoomed out of the classroom every now and then, literally coming back _seconds_ later, having refilled his mug with more coffee.

On the board was a map of Remnant with various articles strewn about with red string connecting some of them, making Dr. Oobleck appear like an obsessed conspiracy theorist at first glance. Not only that, but his desk was a mess. Littered with empty, overturned coffee mugs and untidy stacks of papers all over his desk.

Lucky enough for everyone else, Steven loved history, and, having a very fast mind of his own, Steven often fell victim to talking impossibly fast for a typical person to understand, without him realizing it. This meant that he was easily able to understand Oobleck himself, able to take notes, and share them with his friends afterwards to help fill in the spaces they missed. Steven enjoyed this, actually, as it gave him a sort of purpose you could say, giving them a reason to look up to him almost. Steven didn't like to be the center of attention, but prided himself in being able to help others as much as he could, whether it be academically, emotionally, or physically. The last part meaning that he would genuinely fight another person directly in order to protect one of his friends, which he has offered, and sometimes even nearly carried out himself.

* * *

After the class was over, the nine of them went to lunch in the cafeteria before their next class, which was their combat class with Professor Goodwitch. During lunch, everyone was essentially wiped out by the impossible amount of energy Oobleck possessed, even Ruby was winded. Ren and Steven appeared to be the only ones unaffected, and thus they shrugged at each other when they made eye contact after surveying the rest of their friends.

After lunch, they headed back to their rooms to get changed out of their uniforms, and into their combat attire, and grabbing their weapons. For their combat class, they wouldn't need any textbooks or notebooks. Instead, students were expected to learn new techniques and skills to improve their combat, often either practicing with other students, or challenging their fellow classmates in front of the entire class to show what they have learned, and to see what they need to improve upon.

Steven put his weapon on his back, ready to go, before waiting in the hallway for everyone else. Jaune and Ren were the first to step out of their rooms, as the girls had much more to put on than the three of them, which took them longer, and the three were _damn_ sure not to complain about it, each one of them knowing from experience that you _do not_ do that, _EVER_.

Soon, the six girls stepped out of their rooms, locking the doors behind them, before heading to class all together.

* * *

Upon arriving at the classroom, Steven was able to see that the room was still a lecture hall, but the area at the bottom for the teacher was much larger, and featured a stage. Upon introducing herself and the class, Goodwitch then went on to explain a special function on their scrolls. Everyone's scroll was able to actively monitor each and every person's aura, which Steven thought really awesome, and had no idea it had a limit to begin with. She also explained how it would alert you when your aura's energy was below 15%, the level when you are prone to physical damage, and the level that all tournament style matches would consider an automatic disqualification upon reaching the limit, she added. She made sure to include that it is one of the rules of the "Vytal Festival Tournament", which Steven had no idea as to what it was, but he decided to ask his friends about it later that night.

His train of thought was interrupted when Goodwitch spoke to the crowd of students, "How about we showcase this feature with a quick match? Who would like to challenge someone to a little duel?" She finished. Yang immediately threw her hand up. Steven instantly knew why.

Recently, Yang had taken a liking to pranking Steven in various ways. Sometimes she'd pull a chair out from under him while he's at his desk, other times she misplaced some of his things. One time she even blocked his door from the outside. He didn't mind at all, he actually thought it was quite funny himself, and it's not like Steven was the only one being pranked, Yang pranked everyone, except Ren, because 'He's no fun'. But Yang had taken a particular interest in pranking Steven, mostly because he pranked her back, and just as well. But one time, they both went a little _too_ far, and when one of the pranks that he set up for her, a water bucket over the doorway, fell and hit Ruby, Steven blamed it on Yang, and a blame game ensued. Ruby got so mad that she decided that she didn't care about who actually did it, she cared more about them stopping, so she forced them to duel, but they all had class soon, so it would have to wait until they got a chance.

Well, now was the chance it seemed.

"Ah, Ms. Xiao Long." Goodwitch immediately called. "And who would you like to challenge?"

Yang slowly turned her head towards Steven with a wicked smile on her face, pointing at him. "I'd like to challenge Mr. Paxton." Steven returned her smile slyly. Yang had been bragging about her combat skills since Ruby had forced them to duke it out, so it was now time to see what she said about her own skills is true.

"Mr. Paxton, do you accept Ms. Xiao Long's challenge." Goodwitch said to confirm both parties are alright with the matchup.

" _Absolutely_." Steven said, not one to back down from a fight.

"Alright then, will the two of you please step onto the stage then?" Goodwitch instructed.

"Gladly." Yang said. The two of them proceeded onto the stage on opposite ends, Steven on the left, Yang on the right, and assumed a ready stance.

* * *

"The rules are as follows: The first person whose aura level reaches 15% or lower is the loser. Your aura meters will be displayed on both your scroll and the screens above you here." Goodwitch then indicated to the sides of the arena where two large vertical monitors that stretched from the floor to the ceiling were turning on. The one on the left showed Steven's picture, name, and aura level. The right screen showed Yang's picture, name, and aura level as well. This way, the audience can see who is winning and whatnot. "Once your opponent is below 15% aura, you cannot strike them any further, or you will be punished. And finally, play fair, and have fun." She finished with a small smile. "The match will begin once the buzzer sounds, get ready."

5

"You scared?" Yang taunted, bouncing around in her ready stance with her Ember Celica's at the ready.

4

"Ha! You _wish_!" Steven replied with a determined look on his face, Der Befreier in its rifle form, pointed at Yang. The gun makes a distinct ' _click_ ' as Steven switches off the safety.

3

"I've always wanted to battle you, you know. So don't disappoint me" Yang taunted once more.

2

"I hope you're not all talk, Yang. That would just be sad." Steven said with a wide and evil grin.

1

"Oh, now you're asking for it!" Yang said. Steven's words appeared to have gotten under her skin.

"Bring it on!" he replied.

 _ **BWAAAAAH**_

The buzzer goes off, and Yang immediately propels herself forward with Ember Celica, shooting behind her and using the recoil to send her forward. Steven foresaw this, and as she brought her right fist towards Steven's head, he quickly spun to her left, leaving him out of her range as she continued forward for a few feet before stopping to attack again. Steven took this window of opportunity to fire three rounds at Yang's back, two of them striking her, the third blocked by her left Ember Celica as she quickly turned around towards her opponent. She quickly sprang forward, using her right fist once more, aiming for the same spot on Steven's face again, only to feint him with her left fist in the gut. Steven saw this coming, and blocked her with the side of his gun, which he was holding on the handguard and the stock tube, keeping her at bay. Before Yang could do anything, Steven quickly kicked her away with his right foot. Yang took the opportunity to propel herself back to try a different strategy. Steven jumped back himself, thinking the same thing. Steven then switched his rifle into his broadsword, and twirled it around a couple times.

As the two stood there, they slowly began to walk counter clockwise in a circle, maintaining the same distance between each other.

Steven took a quick glance at the monitors. Yang was at 90%, while he was at 95%.

"Gotta say, not too impressed right now Yang." Steven taunted with a sly grin, knowing it would get under her skin. Steven of course didn't truly mean what he was saying, he was just teasing her.

"Oh, THAT'S IT!" Yang yelled, clearly ticked off.

Yang then launched herself forward once more towards Steven with Ember Celica, but did not prepare to strike, she only wanted to close the distance. Steven prepared to block, but once he discovered she was not trying to strike him, he created an opening for Yang, who took it and punched Steven low in the abdomen, firing her shotgun each time for added power, force, and damage. She began with a low uppercut with her right hand, then a swipe to the side of Steven's head with her left, followed by a strike to Steven's shoulder with her right. She then took her left fist, pulled it back, then tried to hit Steven with one large and powerful punch. In the time it had taken her to bring her fist back and charge it with power, Steven was able to recover quickly enough, and bring his sword up to block the blow, stopping it in midair. Yang then tried to hit Steven with her free hand, but Steven was able to block it with his gauntlet.

Now it was time for Steven to go on the offensive. With both of Yang's weapons currently locked in a block, Steven pulled the trigger on his sword, knocking Yang's left arm back from the force. Steven then brought the sword down with the force he was given from the pull of the trigger, bringing it down on Yang's right arm. He then quickly spun around with the momentum he had, and fired a round into Yang's chest, forcing her to stumble back a ways. Steven then brought his sword up, ready to attack, and charged at a still recovering Yang, who brought her head up just in time to see Steven's determined face, and his sword swinging into her side. She took the blow, unable to block it, Steven then finished his swipe, bringing the sword to his left now with the momentum, and brought the sword up for a diagonal swipe on Yang's shoulder.

Yang tried to force an opening by firing her left Ember Celica at Steven, who expertly canceled his attack, turning to the right, his left now facing Yang, using the momentum his sword had to bring it down with his left hand, and twirling it fast enough to deflect the shots that Yang fired as they came out. Steven then switched to his right hand behind his back, twirling it, then bringing it up to waist height, turning his body with the sword as he brought it in for a horizontal swipe. Yang certainly wasn't expecting this, and took the blow, unable to foresee it. She was blown to her right, in the direction the hit was going, and fell onto her side.

Steven stepped back, deciding to play cautiously, unsure of what she will do next, especially considering she has become _very_ angry. Steven took a quick glance at the monitors, His aura was at 65%, and Yang's was at 50%.

Steven then said panting as he was looking at the monitors, "Heh, not bad Xiao Long, but that _Deathstalker_ was tougher than you." He taunted, still panting slightly. Steven wasn't underestimating Yang either, he just wanted to see what she was _really_ made of, and apparently that came out as she got angrier.

As Steven turned back to see Yang, he saw that he might soon eat his own words. Steven was surprised to look over to see Yang back on her feet so quickly, and she was _not_ happy. Her eyes were no longer the usual lilac, but now were a furious red. Her hair appeared on fire, and she was gritting her teeth in anger. She was giving Steven what he easily saw as a death stare. 'Whatever she was about to unleash is gonna hurt.' He thought. He didn't let his nervousness show, and kept a determined look, bringing his sword to the ready,

"ILL SHOW YOU TOUGH!" She yelled angrily at Steven, before bumping her fists together in front of her, causing her hair to become even more enflamed, and for her power to visibly come to her arms in force, activating her semblance. Before Steven could react, Yang was on top of him, throwing punch after punch into him, firing her shotguns each time. Steven was unable to block, and he knew it, instead looking for the first opportunity to create some distance.

After taking several _hard_ hits to his body, Steven finally saw an opportunity. As Yang was returning her left fist back to her body to prepare another a blow, and bringing her right fist onto Steven simultaneously, Steven was able to fire his sword, connecting the blade to her gauntlet, sending it away enough to deflect the blow, but not enough to knock her off balance or anything. Expecting as much, Steven then quickly flipped the sword in his right hand with the strike, now facing downwards as if holding a dagger, raising it up behind him, blocking Yang's second punch. He then spun around, and reinforced the block with his left hand. Yang then tried to hit him on the side with her free hand, but Steven was able to kick it away.

This created the opportunity Steven needed, and so he quickly recovered his leg, kicking Yang in the abdomen, forcing her back at least a little bit, giving Steven the ability jump back, and give him some space.

Now that they're both apart once more, the two glanced at the scoreboards.

Yang's aura was at 48%, while Steven's was at 30%.

"Now that's what I like to see." Steven said after feeling the full wrath of Yang Xiao Long's punches once she's angry.

"Oh, you've seen _nothing_ yet!" She said, still angry, gritting her teeth. She then bumped her fists together once more, giving her more power and energy.

"So that's how we're going to play, eh?" Steven said with a sly smirk. Yang was angrily confused at what Steven meant, unsure of what he was going to do.

Yang was rather surprised when Steven put his sword on his back, then proceeded to take a boxing stance. Yang thought he was being _way_ too cocky and overconfident, and put a smile on her face as Steven charged _her,_ screaming a war cry. Yang charged him in response, wondering if the adrenaline got to his head. Yang was about to strike Steven down with one final blow, bringing her right fist back all the way, creating as much power as it could, before sending it Steven's way. Steven knew _exactly_ what she was going to do, and had already thought of a counter to her move. In a flash of red light, Yang's punch connected with Steven, but she was instantly shocked as her punch stopped upon connection. She looked up, seeing that her fist had connected with Steven, but he was a navy blue Triceratops that was much larger than her. With the large and resilient skull of the animal, Yang's finishing blow's energy was able to be evenly dispersed across the large shield-like skull of the form he took. With the three large horns on his head, one on the nose, and one above each eye, Steven was basically one large shield.

As the blow struck the center of his skull, which was pointed perpendicular to Yang's attack with his nose on the ground, Steven was able to brace his legs, and didn't move an inch upon being hit. Surprised, Yang left her hand where it was, and looked to see Steven's brown eyes looking at her in determination. Before she could realize what situation she was in, Steven threw his head back, striking Yang with the horn on his nose, sending her flying onto her back.

Yang got up with a slight struggle, gritting her teeth as she looked at Steven. Her aura was now at 28% from the large amounts of energy she used in her attack and from the large blow she just took. Steven's was still at 30%.

Seeing that Yang was now ready to continue, Steven let out a loud grunt before swiping his front left foot in a motion that indicated he was going to charge her. Yang had no choice but to take him head on, he was simply too large to dodge above or around, and his shield-head was too wide to try to get him from the side, where he'll easily be able to turn his head to deflect a blow. Yang prepared to inflict as many blows on Steven as possible, putting her fists up in a boxing pose. Steven then started to charge her, shaking the ground as his feet landed with force, his head bowed low. At the right moment, Yang jumped up above Steven's nose horn, and began to fire her weapons into Steven's head. Steven foresaw this possibility, and used his two longer horns to effectively parry her arms, forcing her shots to miss. Steven then continued his charge, colliding into Yang with the larger, flatter area above his horns. Yang suspected something like that to happen, so she connected her feet with his head and jumped off safely next to him.

With Steven still trying to stop himself, Yang was able to get behind him, and she fired her shotgun shells from a distance, out of the range of Steven's legs and tail. Steven grunted in pain, but quickly turned around, deflecting Yang's remaining shots with his skull.

Steven's aura was now at 20% from the use of his semblance, and the few blows Yang inflicted. Yang's aura was at 18%, she knew she had to pull something fast, or lose.

Yang knew what was coming next, as Steven's foot brushed the ground again, signaling a charge. She used her knowledge of his next attack to figure out the final blow she'd inflict on Steven, but she couldn't figure out why Steven was being so predictable, forgetting about the last time he pretended to repeat his actions. As Steven charged, Yang stood in place, holding her ground. Her plan was to activate her semblance as Steven collided with her, and using her extreme strength to stop Steven and then force him down on the ground, where she'd inflict the final blow. Yang outstretched her arms and braced herself for the impact, setting a wide and low stance, giving her more balance. Steven neared close to her, and went through with _his_ plan. He _loved_ faking his opponents whenever he could, making them constantly stand on their toes, making him unpredictable.

As the two were about to collide, Steven switched back into his human form at the last second in a red flash of light. Yang was unable to register the event quick enough as she was so prepared for the huge hit, as Steven quickly slid into her legs, coming out behind her, causing her to fall forward now that her feet are no longer on the ground. In one swift movement, Steven quickly got up, back still facing Yang, and gripped his right wrist with his left hand, and he threw his arm back with lightning speed and impeccable force, striking Yang in the back with his gauntlet's diamond-shaped elbow guard, forcing her to the ground.

 _ **BWAAAAAAAH**_

The buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the match. Yang lay sprawled on the ground for a second, before slamming her fist into the stage with immense force, creating a small dent. She then rolled onto her back to see Steven's hand in her face, his arm outstretched, offering to help her up. She stared at it for a second before Steven spoke up.

"I know I haven't been fighting for a long time, but you were certainly the most challenging opponent I've ever had to face, even harder than those hundreds of Grimm I fought on my first day here. You are a truly gifted fighter, and it was an honor to battle you. I look forward to fighting by your side these next few years." He finished. All his words were sincere; Yang is a truly gifted fighter, just like many others there, but more so.

As Steven smiled back at Yang, she finally took his hand. Steven then put his left hand further down her forearm to help pull her up. Once he helped her up, Steven offered his fist out for a fist bump, which Yang gladly returned, then stating "Can't leave you _Yangin_ now can I?" in her normal, cheery voice once again. Steven chuckled at her pun, which reminded him of something.

As they both looked at the screens behind them, they could clearly see that Yang's aura was at 13%, while Steven's remained at 18%, making him the narrow victor. As they both noticed this, Steven leaned towards Yang a bit, saying "This means that I'm the victor of the prank war too by Ruby's rules" He said with a sly grin on his face. Yang was trying not to show her smile, but couldn't help but giggle after playfully punching Steven in the shoulder.

"We have a winner!" Goodwitch said, taking the two fighters out of their trance, returning them to the room they were in. They finally noticed that the crowd was cheering them on, very entertained with the intense fight.

"Steven Paxton is the victor, with Ms. Xiao Long's aura below 15%. That is _certainly_ a great way to start off the year! Great work you two!" She said, clapping her hands. The crowd cheered and applauded them as they both bowed to the audience. "Now that we know how our aura monitors work, and we have some examples of two different fighting styles, we can now begin the year, able to find where everyone needs improvement and to learn all new techniques, which Ms. Xiao Long and Mr. Paxton may be able to assist us with after that beautiful performance. However, that is something we'll have to pick up on next class, as we are out of time today unfortunately." The crowd became sad, wanting their turn on the stage, but they'd all eventually get their chance. "Don't forget to train constantly, and to _stay alert_! You never know what's out there." She finished.

Steven and Yang left the podium to rejoin their teammates and friends, getting many congratulatory pats on the back, high-fives, and words of awestruck people on their way, directed towards each. Yang was no sore loser, and Steven was no ego-winner, as they both had great senses of sportsmanship. Once reaching their friends, Steven and Yang were greeted by everyone in congratulatory manners as well.

"You guys that was _AMAZING!_ " Nora said enthusiastically.

"You two certainly have the skills of a warrior" Pyrrha said to both of them, before looking to Steven, "And I look forward to battling you in the future." She added, with a small, sly grin on her face.  
"I take that as a challenge" Steven said politely, and with an equally sly grin. "I look forward to the day I get to battle the great Pyrrha Nikos as well, as I have no idea what to expect from you, being so new to this world."

Pyrrha gently blushed at the title Steven gave her.

Ren then spoke up, "You two fight with great honor." He then proceeded to bow to both of them, his left arm behind his back, his right hand in a fist over his heart. Steven and Yang returned the bow.

Weiss was the next to speak up. "Not _bad_ , Steve, but your form needs some work" She said, criticizing him slightly, crossing her arms and turning slightly away from him.

"Well, then maybe you could help me with that." Steven offered.

Weiss didn't expect such a comment in return, instead expecting some sort of snappy retort. She appeared surprised, then looked Steven in the eyes to see that he was being sincere.

"And while we're at it, maybe I can teach _you_ a few things." Steven continued. "And we could make it a team exercise or something while we're at it, teach everyone a few things.

Weiss dropped the attitude she had, turning towards Steven and Yang. "It would be a pleasure to help you two." She said sincerely. Yang and Steven smiled at her gratefully.

Jaune, meanwhile, was just awestruck, he was utterly speechless, as the only time he had seen so much action before was in one of the video games on his phone.

"That was some very good fighting there you two. Good work." Blake said calmly to the two.

"Thank you!" Steven and Yang said in unison.

The two then turned to Ruby, who surprisingly hadn't said anything yet. They were both very surprised that Ruby appeared _furious_ , specifically at Steven. Concerned, Steven began, "Uhh… Ruby, are you oka-" But was cut off as Ruby tackled him to the ground.

"You beat up my sister!" She yelled, lightly punching Steven in the chest armor.

"Woah, woah, Ruby, what has gotten into you?" Yang asked, laughing at the sight of her little sister being so protective of her. She then took her off of Steven, who was also laughing a bit. "He won fair and square. Besides, I didn't show him _everything_ I had." Yang reassured Ruby.

"No matter!" Ruby declared. "I will _avenge_ my sister's defeat!" Ruby said in a way that sounded determined, but playful, in the way that she wasn't threatening Steven.

Steven chuckled at Ruby's determination. "I accept your challenge Ruby," Ruby was surprised at how readily Steven was at fighting her, but she wasn't one to back down from a fight, much like Steven. "Although it will have to wait for now, as my aura is drained at the moment." Everyone chuckled. "How about we all go get something to eat? I don't know about you guys, but _I'm_ starving."

Everyone agreed, and they all went to the cafeteria to get some dinner before heading back to their dorms and doing any work they had to do.

* * *

 _Steven's abilities as a fighter and as a hunter have certainly been proven, and now that his fellow teams which he follows are working together, the group of them is almost unstoppable. However, that does not mean that either team is free from any oncoming challenges. Jaune, the leader of team JNPR, will be given a very challenging dilemma. Will he be able to do it himself? Or will he ask his team for help, as any team leader should, knowing that almost any task can be completed as a team. Steven will also discover that, where there's a school, there's always a bully, and Beacon is no exception. Steven will also need to be called upon to help his friends once more. However, this time it will be for emotional reasons, where he will show his friends the other side to the fierce, determined warrior, that cares about his friends._

 _Watch our heroes tackle these new challenges next time in **Chapter 7: There's Always that One Guy…**_


	8. Chapter 7: There's Always That One Guy

**Chapter 7: There's Always That One Guy…**

* * *

After Steven's slim victory against Yang, Ruby constantly nagged him about fighting her to 'redeem my sister's defeat', as she put it. Steven promised her each and every time that they would duel, but it would need to wait for the weekend. But that never stopped Ruby from bringing it back up at least 12 times a day.

* * *

The day after the fight, once they were all done with their classes, Steven was finally ask everyone some questions about the world that he has come to call his new home. Steven called everyone into his room, still three-fourths empty, as he was the only one in it. Everyone knew he had questions, and were eager to help him, as he helped them so much already as it is.

As everyone sat down and made themselves comfortable, Ren preferring to sit on the floor, Nora lying on one of the unoccupied beds or jumping on it. Jaune leaned up against the wall, Weiss sat in one of the desk chairs. Pyrrha took a seat on the edge of one of the beds, and Ruby and Yang took a seat next to her. Blake chose to sit on the floor along with Ren.

"Alright, now that I see you're all comfortable, I'd like to ask you a few questions about your world, as there are many things that I have no idea about." Steven began.

Everyone gave a nod and an affirmative hum, urging him to go on.

"So yesterday, professor Goodwitch explained the rules of a battle as 'tournament rules', specifically ones that would be used during the 'Vytal Tournament'. So my first question is, what _is_ the 'Vytal Festival'?"

"Allow me to answer this one." Pyrrha offered to everyone. She had fought in tournaments before in Mistral, and no doubt probably knew more about the tournament than anyone else. "The Vytal Tournament is an event held every two years, and is the main event of the Vytal Festival, which I will get to later." Steven nodded, urging her to continue. "The Tournament is comprised of teams from the combat academies from across the world. They fight against one another, and move on down the tournament if they win. The tournament is segmented into three different kinds of fights. There's teams, which is the first round. The teams fight one another to move to the next round, and if they win, they move to doubles. In doubles, each team chooses two of their members to fight with each other against another team of two. When one of those teams wins, they move to singles, where the winning team picks one of the two from the doubles round to fight on their own against someone else." She explained. It certainly sounded like an interesting tournament by the way it was set up, but it also sounded like Steven would unfortunately have to sit it out, as he didn't have a team, but that was alright, there'd be another chance in a couple years by the way it sounded.

"Now, the Vytal Festival." Pyrrha continued. "The Vytal Festival is an event that is also held every two years, and as I said, the tournament is the main part of it. However, it's not the only part of it. Before, during, and after the tournament, students from combat academies in the other three kingdoms travel here together and stay at the host's academy. This time it will be Beacon who is hosting everyone, and students from everywhere will be living in the empty dorms we keep. Tourists come along as well, engaging in our culture, as well as each other's. The students are welcome to come to a dance that is held before the tournament. There are also parades held all the time, filled with the culture of the world." She finished.

"Wow. That…sounds… _really_ awesome!" Steven said. He loved learning about various cultures, and the fact that this world had an event that regularly brought them all together made it all the more better. Things like this existed, but it wasn't easy to get to them all the time, as the world was large, and money was required to get to those places, and even then you may not get the full experience. The Olympics and World Cup games on Earth were great, but watching it on TV was only part of the experience one could have. Even then, this festival is coming to where Steven is, making it very easy to be able to indulge in this, as he never had anything of the sorts near his home, it was either across the country, or in another one, far away. Returning from his deep thought, Steven continued with his questions. "Why is the Festival held?" He began, but realized his question could probably be more specific. "Let me clarify. Usually, festivals are held for a reason, often an event that it is celebrating, so what is the Vytal Festival held to celebrate?"

Ren spoke up, as he knows a good amount of Remnant's history. "The Vytal Festival is held to celebrate the end of the Great War, which ended about 80 years ago. On the island of Vytal, the four kingdoms convened to end the war, and restore peace. The war was long and bloody, and if the war dragged on too long, then the Grimm would surely destroy them, of they didn't destroy themselves first." He put, plain and simply.

"Well that answered all my questions, actually." Steven said, kinda surprised, as he swore he had more to ask, but he 'forgot' about them (He didn't want to ask them yet).

Surprised that he was finished so quickly, Weiss said, "Oh. You sure there's nothing else you need to ask?"

"No, not until I can remember what my questions were. But I'll ask them to you guys when they come back to me." Steven reassured them.

Ruby looked over at the clock for the time, seeing it was only about 7 PM. "Hey, Steve?" She asked.

"Yeah Ruby?"

"I think it's time." She said with an evil grin on her face.

Steven sighed in an annoyed tone. "Ruby, it's late, we're tired, and we have homework. I already promised you that we would do it this weekend."

Ruby pouted, making a whine as she began to sulk. She then tried to force him to accept it by giving him her signature puppy dog eyes, which some dogs only dreamed of achieving. Steven was used to it by now though, he had his fair share of the treatment back in Earth, making him basically immune.

"Nope, not gonna work this time." Steven said in response to her actions.

Ruby's puppy dog face intensified.

"Nope." Steven said once more, crossing his arms.

The face intensified even further, causing everyone else to look away in fear of giving in themselves. Steven only raised a questioning eyebrow, not giving in.

After a few more seconds, Ruby gave up, putting on a determined face. "Drat. I'll get you one day!" She said, waving her finger and speaking in a dramatic tone as if she was a cartoon character vowing vengeance.

"If by 'one day' you mean Saturday, like I said, then you're correct." Steven retorted.

Ruby then stomped out of the room, keeping her determined face on.

Steven chuckled at Ruby's antics; it reminded him of some people he knew on Earth.

* * *

As the days went on, they all went to class as usual, with Ruby constantly trying to provoke Steven, even going as far as trying to volunteer for a match in Ms. Goodwitch's class each time, only to be the second to put her hand up every time. Steven had to admit, Ruby was a very determined person, which was a good trait for a leader such as herself. As the days also went on, Steven could also notice a lot going on with Pyrrha. She made the same expression whenever Jaune got hit emotionally, or even physically, by someone in a hostile manner, anywhere. This made Steven come to the conclusion that it was for one of two things. Either she hated to see her leader like this, as Jaune wasn't exactly a good fighter, and that she wants to help him, but is preventing herself for some reason, or she has feelings for him. But considering the weight of the second possibility, Steven decided he needed to wait, and be extra sure about what the reason is before confronting her.

During these days, Cardin Winchester, the same guy who threw scrambled eggs at Steven's back, had been harassing Jaune for quite some time as often as he could. Cardin enjoyed seeing Jaune's humiliation, but he didn't specifically target _him_ , he targeted anyone that was vulnerable. He often targeted people who were Faunus, mainly a short girl with long brown hair and brown rabbit ears on her head, whose name was Velvet Scarlatina. Everyone felt bad for her, but they couldn't do much about it, as they had no idea how to stop Cardin.

One of the days that Cardin humiliated him the most was the day he challenged Jaune to a fight in Professor Goodwitch's combat class. The day this happened, was also coincidentally the same day Steven gathered all the evidence he needed to conclude why Pyrrha was acting the way she was.

* * *

It all started with one simple question from Professor Goodwitch. "Who wants to show what they've learned in a battle?" Cardin immediately shot his hand up, faster than Ruby's, who had been getting faster each time, carrying a smug and evil grin along with it. "Mr. Winchester, who would you like to battle?"

Cardin pretended to think for a moment, looking to the corner in thought, before pointing directly at Jaune. "I'd like to challenge Jaune to a battle."

Jaune audibly gulped at the idea, knowing that he wasn't a very good fighter.

"Very well. Mr. Arc, please step onto the stage and face your opponent."

Jaune reluctantly stepped forward with his Sword and shield, which was folded up still. Cardin brought his large mace with him, resting it on his shoulder with his grin still showing. As the two took their positions, the screens turned on with their pictures, names, and aura level meters. Jaune unsheathed his sword and unfolded his shield, placing it defensively in front of him. Cardin just stood there relaxed, as if nothing was about to happen.

The rules of the battle were the same as always, tournament style rules. First with their aura meter below 15% loses.

The countdown appeared on the screen. Jaune got into a more ready stance, while Cardin's pose remained the same. When the buzzer sounded, Jaune charged forward with his shield in front of him with his sword behind him, ready to strike when he got close. Cardin simply waited for him, dodging him by just moving slightly to the side as Jaune passed, causing him to continue moving past him. Cardin then brought his mace down and slammed it into Jaune's back, forcing him to the ground. Jaune rolled onto his back after a second, putting his shield up, blocking Cardin's next attack. He then got up, and tried to swing at Cardin, but put his shield to the side by accident, allowing Cardin to grab the back of Jaune's neck, and throw him behind him. Jaune stumbled across the stage, finally turning around towards Cardin, who had his mace on his shoulder again. Jaune was surprisingly out of breath, causing him to pant where he stood. Cardin just stood there, waiting for him. Cardin chuckled at the sad attempts Jaune was making to beat him. Then, Jaune tried to charge Cardin again, swinging down on where Cardin stood, which he easily dodged. When Jaune's sword hit the ground, he quickly looked behind him, watching as Cardin's mace connected at his shield, causing him to be thrown across the room again, and dropping his shield in the process. Jaune quickly got up, and recovered. Putting both hands on his sword, he charged once more at Cardin, who blocked the strike with the handle of his mace. The two were locked in a parry, but Cardin was able to use his strength to easily force Jaune back.

As he forced him back, now leaning over him, Cardin then said to Jaune "This is the part where you lose."

"Over my dead-" Jaune began, but was interrupted as Cardin kneed him in the stomach, causing him to stumble back and grasp his stomach, dropping his sword, then falling over to the ground.

Cardin raised his mace over Jaune to deal the final blow, Jaune unable to retaliate. As Cardin began to swing his mace, the buzzer sounded once more, signaling the end of the match, much to Cardin's disappointment.

"That's enough." Goodwitch began, stepping between the two and to the front of the stage. Cardin began to walk to the other side of the stage. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match.

Steven looked over at Pyrrha, who was hunched over, clearly saddened by the display her leader put on, but also at what happened to him.

Goodwitch then addressed Jaune, "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now, please try to refer to your scroll during combat." At this, Jaune took out his scroll to look at it, seeing his aura in the red, and his teams still in the green, as they haven't fought yet. "Gauging you aura will help you to decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more… defensive strategy."

Jaune sighed quietly to himself.

"We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowulf… now would we?" She continued.

Cardin responded to her, "Speak for yourself." Before putting the mace on his shoulder and walking off stage.

"Remember everyone, the Vytal festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing." She continued. Ruby, Yang, and Weiss, meanwhile, can't contain their excitement. Yang is throwing punches in anticipation, Weiss looks like she's lost in a daydream, while Ruby is hysterically giggling in excitement, being entertained solely by the thought. Next to Ruby, however, Pyrrha seemed like she couldn't be bothered, as she was still focusing on Jaune. "Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing _all_ of Vale." Goodwitch was interrupted by the bell, signaling the end of the class.

Pyrrha looked down at the ground, but not in a disappointed way, more of a regretful way, like it was somehow her fault.

At this moment, Steven knew why she was acting so strangely. Pyrrha Nikos is in love with Jaune Arc. Steven just needed to wait for the next opportunity to talk to her privately. He wanted to help her, not just because he felt like he had to, but because he could relate to her and Jaune, more than she knew.

* * *

The next day at the lunch table, Nora was sharing another one of her over exaggerated stories of before she and Ren came to Beacon. Yang was listening with anticipation, while Blake read her book, not listening. Everyone else listened as well, with varying degrees of attention. Pyrrha, however, couldn't stop looking at Jaune with a worried look on her face,

" _So there we were, in the middle of the night._ " She began.

"It was day." Ren corrected her.

"We were _surrounded_ by Ursai!" Nora continued. Yang's expression changed to one of slight fear over her tale.

"They were Beowolves." Ren corrected once more.

"Dozens of them!" Nora shouted as she stood up, caught up in her story.

"Two of them." Ren said, now getting slightly annoyed.

"But they were no match." Nora continued. By now, Jaune was just playing with his food. Ruby and Steven, who was sitting next to her, looked across the table at him worried. "And in the end, Ren and I took them down, and made a boat load of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs." She finished, satisfied with her tale.

Ren sighed apologetically before saying, "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

Pyrrha finally decided to address Jaune, who clearly had something troubling him. "Jaune, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Jaune was zoned out in his thoughts. When Pyrrha asked him the question, he was slightly startled, before responding to her without making eye contact with her. "Oh, yeah! W-why?" he asked nervously.

Ruby answered "I-it's just that you seem a little…" She began, twirling her hands trying to find the right word. " _not_ okay." Everyone other than Weiss and Blake looked at him worried, which Jaune now realized.

"Guys, I'm fine, seriously. Look!" He said, giving a thumbs up and forcing a smile, then laughing nervously.

Jaune was then interrupted as he heard Cardin laughing nearby, his team mocking Velvet once again, one of them hopping around with his hands on his head, mimicking her with her ears.

Jaune looked at Cardin with a slight hatred, his fist clenched at the thought of what he was doing.

"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school." Pyrrha said, breaking his defenses

"Who, Cardin _Winchester_? Nah, he just likes mess around, y'know" He tried to reassure her, waving his hand in dismissal. "Practical jokes." He decided.

"He's a _bully_." Ruby said sternly, trying to show him the obvious.

Jaune was a very oblivious person, either that, or he was in denial. He just wasn't very good at figuring these things out for himself, or he was just really bad at accepting the truth, as sad as it may appear.

Jaune scoffed at Ruby's words. "Oh, please, name _one_ time he's 'bullied' me." He said with air quotes.

Steven immediately began. "What, like the time he threw your books onto the ground in the hallway? Or the time he activated your shield in a doorway, getting you stuck? Or the time he stuffed you in a locker during Goodwitch's class and sent you away in one with its rockets?" He said with seriousness.

"I didn't land far from the school!" He retorted.

"Jaune, that was all this morning, and its barely past 12 o'clock." Steven pointed out.

"Jaune you know if you ever need help you can just _ask_!" Pyrrha said, trying to help him and encourage him to do just that so he can get Cardin off his back.

Nora then thought of a great solution in her mind. She shot up in excitement. "Ooh!" She began, before getting into a fighting stance with her arms out ready to punch someone. "We'll break his legs!" She said with a fire in her eyes.

Jaune stood up. "Guys, really! Its' _fine_! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone."

* * *

"Ow! That hurts!" Velvet said in her signature English accent from a nearby table as Cardin was tugging on her ears.

Cardin and the rest of his team were laughing like crazy, while Velvet was in pain.

" _Please_ stop." Velvet said, trying to get Cardin off her.

"I _told_ you these were real." Cardin said to his team mates.

"What a _freak"_ one of them said.

Cardin finally let go of Velvet's ears, and she walked off ashamed.

* * *

Pyrrha turned back to the table after watching what just happened. " _Atrocious_. I can't _stand_ people like him." Anger riddled her voice.

"He's _not_ the only one." Blake said.

"It must be hard to be a Faunus." Yang said, feeling bad for Velvet.

As Jaune got up from the table, he looked back at his friends, out of whom Pyrrha, Ruby, Ren, and Steven were still watching him with worried faces. Sighing, he then left the cafeteria.

Cardin was watching him from his table, thinking of what he can do to Jaune next.

* * *

The next day in Professor, no, sorry, _Dr_. Oobleck's class, Jaune was sleeping in the middle of his lesson. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep from the night before, what with whatever was on his mind plus with Cardin constantly on his back. Steven truly was at a loss as to why he didn't ask for help, and began thinking he should just do it himself and end it already, bringing back the Jaune they know. Another strange thing, this one on Pyrrha, was that she was distancing herself from him, but still expressed heavy concern for her partner, and assumed crush. She wasn't sitting next to him like she normally did, instead sitting next to Blake on the opposite side of the room.

Dr. Oobleck was deep in his lesson as Jaune slept. "Yes! Yes-prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing the Faunus population in Menagerie." He said all in one go, before instantly appearing about eight feet to the right of where he stood a second earlier, taking a sip of coffee, then bolting in front of his desk in a blur. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is _imperative_ to remember that these are relatively recent events, why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" He then moved in a blur from the center of the room to the other side of it, taking another sip of coffee. "Now," he began, before blurring to the middle of the room once more. "Have anyone among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" A student in the back row raised their hand, and Velvet, sitting in the front row in front of Pyrrha and Blake, slowly raised hers as well. "Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember students, it is _precisely_ this kind of ignorance that breeds violence." Oobleck then took another sip of coffee. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang!" He then moved in a blur to the left side of the room. "Now, which one of you young scholars could tell me what many theorists to believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" He asked, moving back to the center of the room in a blur. Weiss raised her hand. "Yes?" he addressed her.

Weiss recovered her hand before answering. "The battle at Fort Castle." She answered with confidence.

"Precisely!" Oobleck responded. "And who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?" Behind Jaune, Cardin flicked a folded piece of paper, which hit Jaune in the head, waking him up in a startled manner, causing him to make a noise as a result. In another blur of light, Oobleck appeared right in front of Jaune. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class this is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"

Jaune took a minute to figure out what the hell was going on, trying to stall and bide his time, he began, "Uh….. _The… answer…_ " He began, starting to look around Oobleck at his partner for some help. " _The advantage…_ of the _Faunus_ " Pyrrha cleared her throat, grabbing Jaune's attention. "…had _over"_ he continued. Pyrrha was pointing to her eyes, mouthing something to him. "that _guy's stuff…"_ Pyrrha was now making circles around her eyes with her hands. It hit him. "uh, b-binoculars!" He said, making it look as if he had just remembered the 'obvious answer'.

The whole class began to laugh at him before Dr. Oobleck took another sip of his coffee. Pyrrha looked down in disappointment; meanwhile Cardin was laughing his ass off. Oobleck zoomed back behind his desk in another blur. " _Very_ funny Mr. Arc. Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!" He said, seeing as Cardin was clearly not paying attention either.

"Well," Cardin began. "I know it's a lot easier to train an _animal_ , than a soldier." He started, clearly referencing Faunus as the 'animals', as he is a racist. Oobleck clearly wasn't happy with that answer either.

"You're not the most _open minded_ of individuals, now are you Cardin?" Pyrrha snapped at him.

"What? You got a problem?" He responded.

"No, I have the answer." She replied. "It's nightvision. Faunus are known for having nearly perfect eyesight in the dark." Cardin grumbled in anger at being outsmarted and outdone by Pyrrha.

"General Lagune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep." Blake expanded. "His massive army was outmatched, and the General was captured." Oobleck took another sip of his coffee. Blake then directed her attention to Cardin. "Perhaps if you had paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as _such_ a failure." She scolded him, causing him to get angry, and stand up.

"Mr. Winchester, please take your seat." Oobleck said. Seeing Cardin get in trouble caused Jaune to begin laughing. Oobleck then zoomed over to Jaune's desk before saying "You _and_ Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings." Oobleck took another sip of coffee as Jaune slumped over his desk in defeat. "NOW! Moving on!" Oobleck continued.

Dr. Oobleck went on to talk about the remainder of the Faunus War, which took a good hour or so. When the bell finally rang, Steven waited to leave with team JNPR, figuring that, since this is the last class of the day, he may be able to pull Pyrrha aside to talk to her about Jaune, as he really wants to help her out. As the four of them walked out, as Jaune was staying behind like he was told to, he went with the rest of them.

"You go on ahead. I'll wait for Jaune." Pyrrha said. Everyone simply nodded, and continued on. Pyrrha waited outside the door against the wall. Steven simply disappeared around the corner, to wait and see what she was up to.

* * *

Back in the classroom, Oobleck addressed Jaune and Cardin after taking a sip of his coffee. "You two have been struggling in my class since day one. Now, I don't know if it's a lack of interest, or just your stubborn nature, but whatever it is." He started, but pausing to take a sip of his coffee, putting the empty mug on the desk. "It stops now. You've worked hard to gain entrance to this school and we only accept the best of the best, so…" At these words, Jaune grew even more troubled than he already was. "I expect you to act like it. History is important gentleman, if you can't learn from it… you're destined to repeat it. Pages 51-91! I want an essay on my desk by next class. Now… run along." He finished, leaving the room in a blur to go grab some more coffee from the teachers' lounge.

* * *

Jaune walked out of the room with Cardin behind him, who proceeded to shove him to the ground before leaving. Pyrrha quickly ran over to Jaune to help him up.

"You know, I really will break his legs." Pyrrha offered him. Jaune sighed, and looked down, ashamed of himself. Pyrrha gasped, "I have an idea!" she took his hand by surprise and began to run around the corner, "Here, come with me!" Steven was shocked to see them, but neither of them seemed to notice him. He saw the two running towards the door that led to the roof. Curious and concerned, Steven decided to follow from a distance. When they left the hallway and stepped onto the roof, Steven stayed behind and kept his ear to the door.

As the two walked on the roof, they walked to the edge. Pyrrha was looking out at the night sky, illuminated by the shattered moon and the Green orbs of the tower that dominated Vale's skyline. Jaune was looking down, however.

"Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not _that_ depressed." Jaune said as he was leaning over the ledge looking down. Pyrrha was looking down, and at Jaune quickly, quickly realizing what he was getting at, which was _not_ what her intention was. "I could always be a farmer… or… something."

"N-No!" She said, pushing him away from the ledge. "That's not why I brought you up here! Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class, and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so…I want to help you." Pyrrha said, beaming with a smile and sincerity in her eyes.

Jaune looked at the ground around her, not exactly happy still, but still surprised. "W-what?"

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us."

"You… think I need help?" Jaune said with depression in his tone.

"N-no, no, that's not what I meant."

"But you just said it…"

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of." She reassured him.

At those words, Jaune turned around, unable to look her in the eye. "You're wrong." He sighed. "I-I don't belong here."

"That's a terrible thing to say, of course you do."

Jaune suddenly turned around, "No, I don't!" he said in a frustrated tone, raising his voice a little. His words made Pyrrha feel a little hurt and confused on the inside. He sighed again, trying to find the strength to say his next words. "I wasn't _really_ excepted into Beacon." He said, turning back around towards the tower.

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean I didn't _go_ to combat school, I didn't _pass_ any test, I didn't _earn_ my spot at this academy!" He said with his back still turned to Pyrrha, frustrated again. He turned to face Pyrrha. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts… and I lied…"

"What?" Pyrrha said in disbelief. "But… why?"

"Cuz _this_ is what I've always wanted to _be_! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one too… I was just never good enough…"

Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder. "Then let me help you."

Jaune threw her hand off his shoulder and turned back to face her again. "I don't _want_ help! I don't want to be the 'damsel in distress', I want to be the hero!" He began to yell.

"Jaune, I-"

"I'm _TIRED_ of being the lovable idiot _stuck in the tree_ while his friends fight for their lives, don't understand?! If I can't do this on my own, then what good am I?" He finished. Pyrrha tried to put her hand on his shoulder again to reassure him, only for Jaune to retreat away from her. "Just… leave me alone…okay?"

"If that's what you think is best…" Pyrrha said, hurt by what Jaune just said, not wanting her help. She then turned around and slowly walked towards the door to return to her dorm.

* * *

Steven knew she was coming, so he bolted as quickly as he could out of sight, getting back to his room before she came back to hers, where he would confront her about what just happened in privacy.

* * *

Back on the roof, as soon as Pyrrha left, Jaune was unpleasantly surprised to hear some words from none other than Cardin from behind him.

"Oh, Jaune…"

"Cardin?!" Jaune reacted in surprise.

"I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room. So, you stuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say Jaune, I never expected _you_ to be such a rebel."

"Please, Cardin, _please_ don't tell anyone." Jaune pleaded with him.

"Jaune, come _on_ , I'd _never_ rat out on a 'friend' like that." He said, rather suspiciously.

"A…a friend?" Jaune asked, confused and not liking where he was headed.

Cardin put Jaune in a choke hold, wrapping his arm around his neck. "Of _course._ We're _friends_ now, Jauney boy. And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a _long_ time." He finished menacingly, letting Jaune out of the choke hold, causing him to sprawl on the floor, gasping for air. "That being said, I really don't have the time to do those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. Think you could _take care_ of that for me, 'buddy'? That's what I thought. Don't worry Jaune, your secret's safe with me." He finished menacingly, before descending back down the wall of the building into the open window of his dorm right below.

Jaune was mortified. Not only had his secret gone out to Pyrrha, who he at least trusted enough to not tell the wrong people, but now Cardin knew. And if Jaune didn't do what he asked of him, his secret would be out, and his only opportunity to become what he dreamed of being would be gone.

* * *

Pyrrha walked back to her room still sulking a bit, upset with what just happened. She didn't notice Steven leaned against the wall next to his room waiting for her. Everyone else was already asleep, which is what she figured as she turned the corner to their rooms, surprised to see him, changing her expression immediately to appear as if nothing happened.

Steven knew exactly what happened though, but he didn't appear as if he did.

"Hey Pyrrha. Where's Juane?"

"Oh, he just stopped at the bathroom; he said he really had to go." She said, coming up with an excuse.

"Oh. Hey, can I talk to you privately for a few minutes?" He asked, motioning to his door.

She hesitated, but was curious as to why he wanted to talk, figuring that it had to do with him, and not her. "Sure."

Steven opened the door for her, motioning her inside his room, and closing it behind her. Turning on the lights, Steven motioned her to one of the beds. "Sit down; make yourself comfortable, this is important."

Pyrrha sat down on the bed across from Steven's, while Steven sat on his own bed.

Steven took a deep breath before looking at Pyrrha, not happy with the bomb he was about to drop on her, but knowing it had to happen if she, or Jaune for that matter, was going to be helped.

"I _know_." Steven said quite ominously.

"Know about what?" Pyrrha said, pretending to have no clue. In reality, she knew _exactly_ what he was talking about.

"Pyrrha… I have the ability to read people based on their actions and expressions, and the last few here at Beacon have told me many things about you." Pyrrha pretended like she was confused, giving him a puzzling look, but on the inside she knew she was made. Steven stopped himself for a moment, before realizing that, if he was straight up, she wouldn't exactly be welcoming to his help. To be able to get her to listen to him, he'd have to show that he could relate to her. However, Steven wasn't exactly ready to let out what he needed to tell her to achieve this. He decided that he would have to put that aside, believing that he _needed_ to tell her this, or nothing good would come of this.

With another deep breath Steven continued. "Here… let me start off by telling you a story. I promise it's relevant." Pyrrha nodded, still giving him a puzzling look. Steven struggled to start, but soon found the courage, "B…Back on Earth, I had someone… She meant the world to me." He began. Pyrrha didn't really know where this was going. "She was my everything. We were madly in love with each other, spending as much time as we could together."

Pyrrha then immediately realized what he was alluding to, and tried to cut him off. "Steven, I don't know what you're telling me this for, I-" She began. Steven put up his hand to silence her.

"You and I both know _why_ I'm telling you this." He calmly reassured her. "Please hear me out."

Pyrrha gave a reluctant nod.

Steven then took a moment before continuing. "Her and I were going to get married as soon as we could, that's how much we were in love for each other. We were going to buy a house, have a few kids, and live our dreams out together." He continued. "You're probably wondering 'why the _hell_ is Steven telling me this stupid story' right now. Well… the reason is… I see myself and her in you and Jaune." Pyrrha looked up at Steven, eyes wide in surprise, not expecting his answer at all. "You see, I used to be very socially awkward back on Earth. I had only a few friends, and no one around me loved me more than as a friend. So one day, I decided that I was going to wait for _her_ to find _me_ , as I was tired of the other way around. Well… Not long after I made that decision, she met me. We met at our favorite restaurant, and we quickly became friends. Soon, she asked me out on a date, and we have been together ever since then. Or… were, I should say…" He corrected himself. "Now, I see her in you. It's no secret to me that you are in love Jaune, am I correct to assume this?" Pyrrha slowly nodded, giving up her defense. "Ever since the day in the forest I saw the way you looked at him, the twinkle in your eyes as you thought about him. I see her in you. You found the one that likes you for who you are, not for what you've become. When I met her, I had no idea that she was the daughter of one of the one of the most successful CEO's in my country, and frankly I didn't care. She was who she was, and that's all I cared about. Jaune is the same way. He, nor I, knew of you until you introduced yourself in the locker room on our second day here. Jaune didn't seem to care about you being the successful fighter you have become, and neither do I in all honesty. To us, you're just Pyrrha Nikos, the red-haired girl on team JNPR who is wicked awesome and always positive, and that's why you like him so much." Pyrrha blushed slightly at the comment. She knew he was right. "I know that Jaune has a lot on his mind right now, with Cardin on his back and… with his secret…"

Pyrrha stood up, slightly angry "You eavesdropped on us?!"

"I was concerned for both of you. I know that sounds strange of me, and I probably shouldn't have done what I did, but I was only looking out for my friends." He explained, causing Pyrrha to sit down and recompose herself, but she still wasn't very happy. "All you need to do to get him is to let him deal with Cardin on his own. I know it may take a while, but I _know_ he can do it. After that, you should try to go after him however you like." He explained.

After a few moments of silence, Pyrrha spoke up. "How do you see yourself in Jaune?"

Steven took a second before responding. "Before I came to remnant, and before I met her, I was nothing. I hadn't fought very much at all. I was slightly overweight, and not very strong. When I came here, and was given the opportunity to attend Beacon, I trained constantly, which is how I became how you see me right now. And after I met Jenny, that was her name, she opened up my eyes to be able to see who I really was, and her memory, as well as the memory of my family, was what kept me going when I was training myself. If I couldn't train hard enough to pass the entrance exam, then I would have nothing, and no way to be able to go out there and find her on this world should she have come here with me somehow. Now, Jaune is exactly how I used to be. He may not appear like his ancestors, who were gifted warriors before him, but inside, he's better than any of them, even than the best of them combined. He just needs to be shown that in order for him to realize it. When he accepts your tutelage, he'll realize it just like I did. He'll realize that, without you, it wouldn't have happened. He'll then soon after begin to wonder why you offered to do the things you did for him. Sure you two or partners, but it takes a different kind of motivation to be helping him on the level you will be helping him, bringing him to the realization that you are in love with him. Then, he'll give up his petty crush on Weiss, and then ask you about your feelings, which he will share for you in return."

The extremely complicated, yet simple explanation of what will happen caused Pyrrha to become dumbfounded. After a minute, she asked, "How do you… _know_ … that will happen?"

"Because that's exactly what happened to me. That's exactly how Jenny got me to realize her for who she is."

Pyrrha saw it now, fully understanding what she had to do.

"So for now, just let Jaune do whatever he needs to for the next few days until he deals with Cardin. After that, you can begin. If he takes too long to realize it, then I'll be sure to point him in the right direction."

This reassured Pyrrha greatly, which is what Steven aimed to do with what he had to say. "Thank you, Steven." She said after a few moments of silence, gratitude evident in her voice. The two stood up, Steven's work was done.

"Don't mention i-"He began, only to be interrupted by a friendly hug. Steven was taken aback, blushing himself slightly, but he quickly returned it.

When Pyrrha let go, she began to walk to the door to return to her dorm, but stopped and turned around. She had a couple questions to ask Steven herself. "Hey, Steven…" She began.

"Yeah?"

"You're not… attracted to me… are you?" She asked carefully.

"No," he answered quickly, before explaining to her, "Don't get me wrong, you're very smart, and very gifted, not to mention stunningly beautiful, but the other half of my heart still belongs to Jenny, and I'm not ready to give up on her yet." He explained, his expression showing sincerity and comprehensiveness, as well as dedication.

Pyrrha smiled and blushed at his compliments, and completely understood, given Steven's circumstances. "I have one more question." She pressed further, giving a small smirk, but quickly getting rid of it, as it may hit him hard.

"Go ahead." Steven said.

"The night we were given teams, when we came into your room, you were holding _two_ pictures. The next day, you revealed _one_ of the pictures to be of you and your family. Was the second picture of… you… and…Jenny?" She asked carefully.

Steven adopted a look of slight depression, but strengthened himself and recomposed, reaching for the picture she was talking about. Taking it out of his pocket, he took a look at it before closing his eyes, and slowly nodding in affirmation, and extending the photo to her so she could see it herself.

Pyrrha walked towards him slowly, taking the picture from him carefully, and turning it over to see it. At the sight of Steven and Jenny, the girl with wavy, black hair that covered her left eye and extended down and rested on her left shoulder, with brown eyes that appeared amber in the photo, and the happiest smile as the two of them looked like they were having the time of their lives, hoping the moment would never end. But sadly, the moment had ended, and it appeared like it could never happen again.

Steven was surprised once more as Pyrrha embraced him once more, this time to comfort him.

"Steven…. I'm… _so_ sorry…" is all she could manage to say. Steven could only return her embrace, unable to say anything, as he was choking up with the memory of Jenny. After a minute, Pyrrha stepped back, keeping her hands on his shoulders. "Stay strong Steven. You may be right; Jenny could have come here along with you. You just have to find her."

After a moment, Steven spoke up. "You're right. I need to stay strong for her." He said, determined.

"Besides, you're the biggest gentleman I've ever met, so if… Jenny isn't here… I'm sure somebody else will find you." She reassured him. "You're the first person to genuinely care about my wellbeing so much, as well as the wellbeing of everyone else. You truly are special, Steven, one of a kind. Anyone would love to have you as their own, or as their friend for that matter." She finished, reassuring Steven "Not to mention, you put the wellbeing of others before yourself, which speaks _volumes_ about you."

After a minute, Steven responded, "Thank you, Pyrrha. That means a lot to me."

Pyrrha let go of Steven, still smiling at him. "No, thank you Steven. You told me exactly what I needed to hear, and I'll be sure to take your advice."

"Great." He said with a smile. "Give him time, and he'll realize that the two of you are meant for each other."

Pyrrha nodded in acknowledgment, understanding what she had to do. She then proceeded to leave the room, to head back to her own and go to bed. As she was about to close the door, she poked her head back in, "Thanks again Steven."

"Don't mention it. I'd do anything to help a friend." He responded.

"Have a good night."

"You too Pyrrha."

Pyrrha then shut the door, and headed off to her room to go to bed, going in to see Jaune still hard at work on his extra readings. Remembering to give him time and space, Pyrrha simply avoided him, but didn't show any hostility towards him, showing that he hadn't upset her too much, and went to bed.

Steven went to bed himself. Before shutting his eyes, he reflected on how his life at Beacon was going. First, he was a warrior, soon he figured out that something is possessing him to an extent, but for now it appeared like he didn't have to worry about it, as nothing had happened recently, and the 'red markings' that Professor Goodwitch had told him about one time hadn't been appearing on him at all lately. Plus, now he was a friend to so many people, and he hoped to continue making friends. Furthermore, now he was basically a matchmaker, which made Steven chuckle at the thought, but it was true. Steven then thought about Cardin. He decided that he needed to be dealt with, but decided to wait to see that Jaune could take care of himself before he decided to take any action. One thing was for sure though, Steven thought; if Cardin tried to screw with him, he'd kick his ass in a heartbeat.

As Steven's thoughts continued on, he eventually fell asleep without realizing it while deep in thought, as usual.

* * *

As the week continued on, Jaune grew more and more distant from his team and his friends. He didn't want to do this, of course, but he really had no choice. Not only was he spending time with his bully/blackmailer, but he was also neglecting his team, and as a leader, he shouldn't be doing that, _ever_.

Steven and Pyrrha hadn't been around to listen on Jaune and Cardin's conversation, so seeing him spending time with him looked very bad. Nonetheless, Steven was sure there was a good reason behind what Jaune was doing, and reassured Pyrrha.

Classes continued as normal, although Jaune essentially did all of Cardin's work for him. It was torture for Steven to see him like this, but he was confident that Jaune would act soon. But, in the event that he didn't, Steven would do it for him, and try to wake him up, so to speak, and show him what he _is_ capable of, whether he wanted the help or not.

In Professor Goodwitch's class, she announced that they would be taking a field trip to Forever Fall the following Tuesday. Steven and Pyrrha decided that, if Jaune didn't act on Cardin by the Friday after the field trip, then they would act, and get Jaune out of this.

Of course, as the end of the week neared, Ruby grew more antsy and anxious, knowing that her fight with Steven would come soon, but that didn't stop her from relentlessly asking to do it at that moment. She even went as far as preventing him from leaving his room Friday morning until his answer changed from 'tomorrow' to 'today'. She went on for a good 20 minutes, thankfully Yang came looking for them, as breakfast was almost over, and dragged her away by her red hood. Steven thought the whole thing comical in all honesty. She was full of energy, much like himself, but she had _much_ more energy. Steven is very hyperactive, and he and Ruby often did shenanigans together, and often spoke very fast to each other, as they could perfectly understand each other, whereas no one else could, allowing them to have private conversations in front of other people, as well as annoy the crap out of them. They also shared a lot of fun ideas together, often coming up with fun or crazy ideas. One time the two of them made a makeshift waterslide into the fountain using Weiss' glyphs, convincing her that it was 'good training by keeping them up as long as she could'. Weiss, always wanting to improve herself in any way she could, quickly gave in. In reality, it was probably the worst way to gain stamina for her semblance, but those who took advantage of the situation didn't think so. Goodwitch broke it up not long after they started though, which did make them sad, but they had… _other_ … fun plans.

That Friday night, Ruby could barely contain her excitement. Due to Ruby's eagerness, Steven promised that they would battle _after_ they had breakfast, which he added just to be safe, would go on until everyone was finished and ready to head over to the practice fields, ensuring that their meals weren't rushed. Ruby was literally bouncing off the walls, using her semblance to quickly jump from wall to wall without falling off. Weiss was unhappy with this. At first, she was studying, but she soon realized that the effort was futile, and just decided to go to bed. Unfortunately, that was also a futile effort, as Ruby was making too much noise. Yang assured her that she would eventually tire herself out and go to bed, but Weiss wasn't so sure, as Ruby had been at this for over an hour, and showed no signs of stopping any time soon. She did eventually tire herself out, but it did take another hour.

* * *

The next morning, everyone dressed in their combat gear, and went to breakfast. That morning the cafeteria served the Remnant equivalent to Belgian waffles, normal waffles, and their equivalent of French toast. This deeply upset Nora, as today, unlike any other normal day, they were not serving pancakes, as they ran out of pancake mix the day before. This forced her to break out a tall but thin cylinder from her pocket with the words 'FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY!' on the side. Nora was hyperventilating as she took it out, as if she was grabbing a rescue inhaler or something, before twisting open the cap, and tipping it over. Out of the cylinder came out a cartoonishly large stack of pancakes, which she then proceeded to go to town on.

Ruby meanwhile had eaten her breakfast already, bouncing in her seat in excitement. Not only did she want to prove her fighting skills, avenge her sister, and see how Steven fought against her, but she also wanted to see more of his weapon in action. Yang had to keep one of her hands on Ruby's head in order to keep her from bouncing and shaking the table. During the meal, Steven asked if anyone wanted to come along and watch, figuring that afterwards they could all make a training day out of it. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea, and that they would come. Even Jaune agreed, although Cardin spoke for him from a table behind them, eavesdropping on their conversation. No one wanted them to come along, but they all figured that they could show Cardin who's boss while they're at it, and maybe show Jaune a few things. So the reluctantly allowed them to come, Jaune and team CRDL that is.

After breakfast, they all headed to the practice fields to watch Steven and Ruby's fight, and then train afterwards. Along the way, Ruby was giggling excitedly, jumping around Steven, and sometimes laughing manically, which did scare him a bit.

* * *

Once they got there, everyone sat down in the bleachers overlooking the small area designated as the practice arena. They had gotten Professor Goodwitch to referee the match for them as well, which was nice knowing they had a professional to keep the match fair for them, even though they trusted that they wouldn't pull any tricks.

Steven and Ruby took their respective sides of the field, getting into a ready stance with both of their weapons sheathed and on their backs.

"My sister will be _avenged_!" Ruby yelled over to Steven.

"We'll see about that." Steven replied with a smug grin. "I'm not going to go easy on you, you know."

"Likewise." She assured him.

"Get ready!" Goodwitch said, raising her hand in the air.

Steven and Ruby then assumed a position that resembled a Mexican standoff, leaning forward with their dominant hand behind them, ready to grab their weapon as quickly as possible and fire off a shot.

"You can do it Rubyyyyyyy!" Yang yelled from the crowd.

"Show him who's boss!" Blake interjected.

"GO GET 'IM RUBY!" Nora yelled from the bleachers, putting her foot on the seat in front of her, leaning forward, and putting her fist out in encouragement.

"Good luck Steve!" Weiss said as well. Everyone looked over to her, some of them upset. "What? I didn't want to leave him out." She explained, prompting an 'I guess so' shrug from a few of them before redirecting their attention back to the field.

"Get set!" Goodwitch continued.

Steven and Ruby got into an even more ready stance.

"Begin!" Goodwitch said, bringing her hand downwards in a slicing motion.

In an instant, Steven and Ruby had both grabbed their weapons, and leveled them on each other. Ruby had extended her weapon to her sniper rifle variant, chambering the first round. Steven pulled back the charging handle and brought up his scope in an instant. The two began firing at each other, both of them running in a counter-clockwise circle around each other, firing round after round at each other. Each round missed its mark, which made Steven come to the conclusion that this wasn't going to work.

The two stopped in their same starting positions, reloading at the same time. Steven quickly put in a new magazine, and switched the gun to full auto. Ruby loaded some gravity dust rounds into her weapon before switching her gun into her signature scythe.

Steven hasn't really seen Ruby fighting before, so he was curious as to what she was going to do, but he didn't see her load the gravity rounds. Upon seeing her transform Crescent Rose, he taunted her. "Makin things interesting already, huh?"

This made Ruby adopt a smirk as she looked at him with determined eyes.

Steven leveled his gun on Ruby. Ruby planted the tip of her scythe's blade into the ground behind her, pointing the barrel of the rifle behind her. Steven raised a questioning eyebrow, curious as to what she had planned. Ruby then pulled the trigger, launching her forward with the power the gravity rounds created behind her. Steven barely had any time to react, as she was moving _very_ fast. As she got closer, Ruby raised her scythe, ready to strike. Steven saw the only exit as up, and quickly somersaulted over her, straightening out as he reach his apex, and turning around to face Ruby, who was beginning to look for him. He then pulled the trigger, and held it, firing eight rounds into Ruby's back. She stumbled a bit, but quickly turned around and deflected the next few bullets he fired. Steven saw that she was surprisingly quick with her scythe, and tried to see how quick she was. Ruby began to slowly walk towards Steven. He fired a few shots towards her feet, which she deflected. He then fired a couple at her head, with the same result. He fired one at her left arm, then her right just as quickly, only to have them both deflected.

Now Ruby was about to be right on top of him. Steven transformed his weapon into its broadsword, ready to try to block her. Ruby was spinning her scythe around her rapidly, making it hard to predict when she was going to attack. She brought her scythe blade close to him on his right in a feint, forcing him to block her, striking her scythe away with his blade. She then brought the blunt end of her scythe's handle around, striking Steven in the gut, causing him to bend over, which Ruby quickly continued with a kick to his head, then brought her scythe down onto his back and shoulders a couple times, before pointing the barrel right at his head as he was still bent over. She fired the round, causing Steven to fly backwards, as well as herself. She quickly stopped herself by digging her scythe into the ground, while Steven stumbled a few times before finally planting his boots into the ground, stopping him, and recovering.

Steven took the moment he had to glance at his scroll. His aura was at 82%, while Ruby's was at 91%. "Not bad." He mumbled to himself.

Steven then decided it was his turn to go on the offensive. He put on a determined face with a smirk, and got into a ready stance before running at Ruby. She quickly recovered her scythe from the ground, readying it for his strike. Steven quickly realized that, because of its size, she couldn't have Crescent Rose in two places at once. Steven swung his sword, forcing Ruby to bring her scythe down to block it from Steven's left. Steven blocked the Scythe, catching it between the curved spikes at the bottom of his left gauntlet. Ruby jumped, dodging the horizontal swipe Steven tried, but couldn't free her scythe as long as Steven kept it in his gauntlet for the time being.

Steven capitalized on this, and was able to slide his gauntlet along the blade until he could grab the handle, meanwhile bringing his sword back to his right. Ruby saw what he was trying to do, and tried to kick him back, but he forced her leg back down with his own. He then quickly brought his sword up by spinning it in a clockwise motion around his shoulder's socket, and bringing it down on Ruby's scythe with maximum power by firing a bullet on the way down. The force of the blow, along with Steven's firm grip on the weapon, forced it out of her hands. Steven threw it behind him, making it impossible for her to grab it again. Trying to get around him, Ruby attempted to shove him to the ground, but Steven was able to punch her in the side before she could do that, before kicking her in the chest, pushing her to the ground.

Now on the ground, disarmed, and disoriented, Steven pointed his sword to her throat.

"You lose." He said confidently.

Ruby only smirked before disappearing in a trail of rose pedals behind him. Steven quickly turned around to see that Ruby had already recovered her scythe and had fired another round, launching her at Steven.

Steven blocked her first blow as she abruptly stopped, sparks flying as the blades connected. Ruby then recovered her weapon, and stepped back before she began using her semblance to run extremely fast around Steven, striking him at random intervals. Steven spun his sword around him furiously, blocking her hits. Ruby soon realized there was a slight pattern to his motions, and struck him where he wasn't able to block near his feet. He kept his ground however, and only stumbled. This gave Ruby enough time to run in a straight line away from Steven before coming at him just as fast from his side, forcing him to take the hit, and stumble in the direction of the blow. Ruby then came at him from another angle before he could recover, repeating her previous actions. She did this several times, severely weakening Steven. Steven quickly noticed her pattern, and was able to get ready in time for the next blow. When it came, Ruby swept off her feet as Steven ducked, swinging his sword low to the ground, connecting with her shins. She fell face first in front of Steven.

His aura was now at 57%, while Ruby's was still at 79% from her semblance use as well as the few hits he got on her.

"It's gonna be a semblance game now, huh?" Steven asked her as he smiled evilly. Ruby grew a terrified expression, as she knows how his semblance can be so volatile and he can turn into whatever he wanted to.

She quickly turned onto her back, showing her panicked state as she saw Steven become a very tall, very muscular Minotaur with large horns protruding from his head.

Steven roared at her, causing her fear to intensify, before he picked her up by her legs with one hand, bringing over his head, and throwing her into the ground next to him, sending chunks of the floor into the air. Steven then bent back, roaring into the air. He then looked back at her to see that she brought her scythe with her. She quickly recovered, and launched herself forward with her semblance, trying to strike the tall beast, but was grabbed once more by Steven, who screamed like a bull in her face before throwing her once more. She then tried it again, this time running circles around him, which he stopped by placing his fist in her path, which she inevitably ran into, knocking her on her butt. She quickly sat up, about to recover, when Steven recovered his fist and kicked her in the back, sending her across the area once more.

Ruby looked at her aura, 51% against Steven's 48%.

Ruby had one last idea to try before she was out of options. Just like last time, she ran at Steven and ran round him in circles. Steven thought she was doing the exact same thing as last time, and put his fist in her path once more. Expecting him to do that, Ruby jumped up Steven's arm instead of colliding with it, running up his body and onto his back. She then began to rapidly slash at Steven's back. Steven tried to desperately get her off by reaching her, squealing in pain at her blows, but she was barely out of his reach. He then tried thrashing her off of him violently, but to no avail. Steven only had one option out of this situation.

Ruby suddenly fell through the air as Steven switched forms, going from the giant Minotaur to a large sabre tooth tiger. As Ruby landed on the ground, she didn't have enough time to react as Steven pounced on her, pinning her to the ground. Steven then snarled in her face, bearing his long, razor sharp fangs. Ruby tried to kick him off, but he was able to scratch her leg, bringing it down. Steven then went for the finisher, going to bite her arm. Ruby quickly reacted, pulling the trigger of her sniper rifle, causing the both of them to launch in the same direction. Steven tumbled and flew in the air, while Ruby easily recovered with her scythe before running at Steven and attacking him while he was still recovering.

Steven quickly realized his form was useless against this, and changed back to his human form, blocking Ruby's next strike with his sword. He then landed on the ground successfully.

Glancing at is scroll, he saw that his was now at 27%, while Ruby's was at 40%.

Ruby came at him with her semblance, which Steven expected, and blocked her attack before kicking her back and slashing her in the shoulder while she recovered. Upon connection, Steven fired a round into Ruby's chest on the way down with the slash across her torso, then bringing it up once more, slashing in the opposite direction, forming an 'X' with his strikes. Steven was then about to thrust his sword into Ruby, but it was knocked to the side by Ruby's scythe, forcing it out of his hand. Steven attempted to dive after it, but was caught by Ruby's scythe when the curved blade caught him, and sent him in the opposite direction. Steven quickly got up, and got into a boxing stance, waiting for Ruby, who was charging right at him again.

Ruby tried slashing at Steven again diagonally, but he caught it once more in his gauntlet, then used his free arm to punch Ruby in the side of her face, then forcing her scythe off his other gauntlet by pushing it off. Steven then grabbed her scythe, and threw it over to his weapon, leaving them both disarmed.

Ruby was now at a disadvantage, as she was not very good in hand to hand combat like Steven was, who practiced it until he was able to build his weapon. Ruby tried to run for Crescent Rose, but was stopped when Steven grabbed her shoulder with his left hand, kicked out her legs from behind her, then connected his right fist into her chest, sending her to the ground.

Steven's aura was now at 20%, and Ruby's was only brought down to 26%.

Steven was about to pick her back up by the collar and whale on her, but before he could pick her up; she used her semblance and recovered her weapon at lightning speeds.

Now charging Steven again, she tried aiming for Steven's legs. Steven then quickly turned into his triceratops like in his fight with Yang, and took the hit to his skull, nullifying the damage. Steven then locked Ruby's scythe in his horns, hanging it over his top two horns, and took Ruby with it. Steven then charged into the nearest solid object, a conveniently placed stone wall, and brought Ruby into it with full force. He then threw Ruby off of him with as much force as he could before turning back into his human form, and running as fast as he could to his weapon. Ruby stumbled for some time, having let go of Crescent Rose during the impact. She quickly ran over to it, but not before Steven was able to retrieve his own.

Both of their auras were at 18%, making this a really close match.

Without thinking, both of them charged at each other, weapon ready to finish the other. They both aimed for an area their opponent couldn't possibly protect while they attacked, Ruby for Steven's back, and he for Ruby's left side, as she was swinging from her right.

As they neared, Ruby swung Crescent Rose behind Steven's back, then pulling it to the side as she cut a gash on his lower back, which was unprotected by his armor. Steven swung horizontally at Ruby's side, which she wasn't able to protect with her scythe behind him.

They struck each other at the same time, and continued past each other after they struck.

Both were on their feet in their poses they kept after the blow, but then fell to their knees, grasping the area they were struck on. The two of them let out loud grunts of pain.

The crowd watched on in a mix of amazement and horror as both of them fell to the ground.

Goodwitch looked at their aura levels carefully, trying to look for a clear winner, but both of their auras were at 10%, and they hit each other at the same time.

"Draw!" She declared.

"What?!" Yang exclaimed.

Everyone else was speechless however, not expecting the two to be so evenly matched.

* * *

Steven slowly got up, panting, still grasping his side.

Steven then said to Ruby, who was still behind him. "Man…" He said, still panting. "That was a really good fight Ruby, You've got potential." Steven waited for a response, but none came. Steven quickly turned around to see Ruby still on the ground, unconscious, and not moving. "Oh, _shit_." He said before sprinting towards her. "Ruby?!" he called, hoping for a response.

Yang jumped out of the stands and began sprinting towards Ruby as well, calling out "Ruby?! _Rubyyy?!"_

Goodwitch also began moving towards Ruby herself, but at a more cautious pace, letting the other two get to her first.

Steven was the first to arrive, as he slid next to her on his knees, picking her up with his arms. "Ruby? Ruby, wake up!" he said, desperately shaking her in his arms.

Yang got there next, and was trying to slap her awake, but nothing was happening.

Steven put his ear to her chest, listening for a heartbeat. Steven let out a sigh of relief as he heard her heart pumping strong and her breathing calm and controlled.

"She's alright." He began. "Thank, go-" he began, but was interrupted by a punch to the nose. Steven dropped Ruby on the ground, not noticing that she was now awake and smiling from ear to ear.

"I win!" She said smugly. Ruby then stood up, only to be tightly hugged by Yang.

"Oh, thank dust you're okay!" she said.

"I'm okay sis." Ruby began, struggling to speak while Yang held her so tightly. "Please… let.. go.." she said.

Yang then let her go, and apologized for holding her so tightly.

Ruby brushed the dirt from her skirt before looking at Steven, who had a slightly angry expression on his face as blood dripped from his nose. Ruby then adopted an 'oh shit' expression and tried to apologize furiously as Steven slowly advanced on her, stopping directly in front of her, and looking down on her with a glare.

"I-I-I didn't break it…. Did I?" She said, smiling nervously, referring to his nose.

They stood there for a moment, Ruby not sure what Steven was going to do, before he placed his hands on her shoulders, causing her to yelp. He then brought her in for a hug.

"Please don't scare me like that again…" He said in her ear in a soothing and caring tone. He then let go, and pushed her back gently so he could look her in the eyes. "I thought I pushed you too hard there."

"Nope. I'm fine." She said to him with a gentle smile. This reassured him, so he put a smile of relief on his face and let out a sigh of relief. "My side hurts though." She said, grabbing her left side.

"Yeah, my back hurts" He said, grasping his lower back.

They both chuckled.

"I won though" Ruby said.

Before Steven could retaliate, Goodwitch interrupted, walking up to the both of them. "Actually, it was a draw." She said, causing Ruby's ego to deflate a little. Steven chuckled.

"I guess we're just really evenly matched." He said, reassuring her a bit. "You're a really gifted fighter Ruby, and you have lots of potential. You were able to surprise me with a different tactic every time, and used your semblance to give you the upper hand when I was disoriented." This made Ruby really happy as she looked up into Steven's eyes.

" _Really?_ You think so?"

"I know so." He finished. "Although, your hand to hand combat needs some work. You couldn't hurt me if you tried back there." He said with a chuckle. Ruby began to pout, stomping her foot on the ground, and put her arms down like straight sticks. "And I'd be happy to help you out." He added.

Ruby left her pout and let out a gasp of surprise, before flashing in a trail of rose pedals as she suddenly appeared on Steven, hugging his neck while curled up in the air around him.

Surprised, Steven quickly grabbed her so she wouldn't fall.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you" She repeated.

Steven chuckled, "It would be my pleasure. But let's let that wait until tomorrow so we can recover, eh?"

Ruby then looked back up at him, and giggled, "Yeah, that would probably be a good idea." She agreed. Steven then bent his knees and bent his back forward, letting Ruby's legs touch the ground once more, before she let go of his neck.

"Let's go back to the bleachers and watch the others train, shall we?" Steven said. Ruby nodded, and walked with him there, only to be stopped by Glynda Goodwitch.

" _Ruby Rose_." She said in a cold voice, getting her immediate attention. "If you were to strike your opponent after the end of a match like that, you would have immediately been disqualified, giving victory to your opponent regardless of the actual results!" She snapped.

Ruby didn't know this, and cringed as she replied " _Sorry_ " with a nervous smile. "It won't happen again!"

"I sure hope not Ms. Rose." She responded.

* * *

With that, the two continued to walk towards the bleachers, where their other friends, and team CRDL, were now getting out of to go and train on the field themselves. From their seats, they watched as everyone trained with each other, improving upon each other's skills. Steven was reflecting back on the battle, realizing that he needed something more reliable than just his gauntlets in order to block or entrap his opponent's weapon. That's when an idea came to his head.

"What's up?" Ruby asked, noticing his grin of satisfaction of his idea.

"Oh, nothing. I just thought about something is all." He reassured her, before placing his arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer in a bit of a hug. Ruby blushed a little, but ultimately leaned onto his shoulder to rest her head.

Out on the field, Pyrrha was taking on all of team CRDL with great success, Blake and Yang were training each other how to strengthen their weaknesses, Ren and Nora were 'fighting' as well, but Nora was really just teasing Ren. Jaune watched Pyrrha's fighting style, and took mental notes.

* * *

That night, Steven began to draw out some weapon schematics, as well as adding on to his current ones. He had plenty of ideas alright, and he couldn't wait to bring them into the world.

* * *

 _The next day, Steven and Ruby, as well as the rest of team RWBY and JNPR, with the exception of Jaune, practiced once more on the field. Steven helped Ruby with her hand to hand combat, and helped his friends with some of their own flaws as he noticed them._

 _Jaune, meanwhile, was busy doing whatever Cardin commanded of him, as he had to keep his secret. As the trip to Forever Fall loomed closer, Jaune began to realize just what he was doing, and began to wonder if it was worth it just to keep in this secret. Was it really worth neglecting his team, potentially putting their lives on the line in the future?_

* * *

 **Thank you for reading, and be sure to watch out for Chapter 8: Jaune's Arc. Be sure to leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter, or even if you disliked it. All comments are welcomed as long as it can help me improve. Also, I apologize for the extremely long chapter, it was actually originally supposed to be **_**much**_ **longer, but I realized that I had to put this chapter, as well as the next one, into two separate ones, as there is actually sometime between the events of Chapter 12 and 13 of RWBY, forcing me to split them apart. So I once again apologize for the absurd word count, causing such a leap in the amount between chapters, and I will be sure to try to make it more linear in the future.**


	9. Chapter 8: Jaune's Arc

**Chapter 8: Jaune's Arc**

* * *

The next couple days saw the huntsmen in training, well… _training_. They had been helping their friends and teammates with improving themselves and teaching them new things. On Monday, they went to classes as normal. However, Jaune grew distant from team and friends nonetheless, often avoiding them or not interacting with them. This obviously caused concern between his friends, especially his teammates.

* * *

On the night before the field trip to Forever Fall, team JNPR was in their room, but without their leader, and discussed their worries about him.

Pyrrha sat on one of the desks looking out the window with a regretful, saddening look on her face, worried for her leader and partner, and fascination. Nora jumped on her bed, expelling some of her endless energy, while Ren cleaned and inspected his weapons, named Stormflower, which were two Green automatic pistols with large blades protruding downwards at their front.

"How come Jaune gets home so late?" Nora asked innocently, still hopping on the bed.

"He's become rather scarce ever since he's been fraternizing with Cardin." Ren added in concurrence, as he checked the sights of his weapon.

"That's weird." Nora replied. "Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow?" After a moment, she began to twirl in the air after her last jump. "We need our rest!" She said upon landing on the bed on her back.

"I'm sure our leader knows _exactly_ what he's doing." Pyrrha said with frustration. She knew that Jaune was going through something, and that what Steven said was right, but that didn't mean she liked it.

Ren and Nora looked at each other, exchanging worried looks with one another.

* * *

None of them noticed their door cracked open slightly, and close quietly after that, as Jaune quietly closed the door outside in the hallway.

After closing the door, Jaune was startled when Ruby came out of nowhere.

"Hey Jaune!" She said in her usual upbeat attitude. She was wearing her PJ's, a black tank top and white sweatpants with pink roses as well as her blindfold on her head, as she was about to go to sleep. "Long time no see!" She added, Jaune was now facing her. "Did you lock yourself out again?"

"Oh, uh… nope! Got it!" He said with a fake smile, as he held up his scroll, which was also the key to his room.

"So… where have you been lately?" She asked. She had been as concerned as her friends about Jaune's recent strange behavior, and she wanted to know what was going on.

"I uh…" He began, trying to think of an excuse. He finally gave up with a sigh, "I messed up." He said defeated. "I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin's got me on a leash, and now Pyrrha won't even talk to me." He explained. He gave another sigh before admitting, "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He said with a look of defeat and regret. He then hit his head against the door before sliding down the door until he was sitting on the floor.

Ruby's posture and expression hadn't changed through his explanation, giving him a smile and attention to make sure he knew she was listening.

"I'm a failure." He said, even more depressed.

"Nope." Ruby said.

"Nope?" Said Jaune, confused at her unexpected reaction.

"Nope." She repeated. "You're a leader now, Jaune." She continued, walking towards him slightly. "You're not allowed to be a failure."

"But… what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" He continued with skepticism.

Ruby hummed in thought as if she had to think about his question before answering once again with "Nope."

"Y'know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

"Nope." Ruby agreed, and was now sitting on the floor next to him. Jaune hit his head against the door again. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid," She began, prompting Jaune to sigh and slump down the door further. "you may have even been a failure the first day we met," She continued, prompting another groan from Jaune as he slumped even further. "But, you can't be one now. You know why?"

"uuuh… because…"

"Because it's not just about you anymore" She answered for him. "You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do. And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us. We need to put our teammates first…" She said as she stood up, putting her hands on her hips, "and ourselves second." She explained. "Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune, and I think that can be you." She reassured him, making him smile. She opened the door to her room before saying "Have a good night Jaune." And disappearing into the room to go to sleep.

Jaune got back up, some confidence now within him. Though he soon remembered the situation he was in when his scroll rang. Jaune took it from his pocket and held it in front of him to answer it, extending it to answer the call.

Jaune tapped on the screen to answer a call from Cardin.

"Hey!" He greeted in a falsely friendly voice. "It's your buddy Cardin! I know you're probably busy with that dust project I gave you, _buuuuuut_ I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps." Jaune gasped, not liking the task he was just given. "And make sure they've got some _reeeally_ big stingers." He added. "It's important, so don't screw this up!" Jaune then collapsed the scroll before sighing and walking off to perform his task.

* * *

The next day, everyone going on the field trip met Professor Goodwitch at the landing pads, ready to go to Forever Fall. Once they had gotten their and touched down in a clearing, almost everyone was taken aback by the strange beauty of the strange forest. The trees were plentiful, dark gray, almost black trees with blood red leaves made it appear like it was always fall here, which is what probably gave the forest its name, as it was always looking like it was fall…. _Forever_ …. You know… The grass was also the same crimson red as the trees. The wind blew through the leaves and branches, giving the forest life with the sound. It almost made the forest appear normal.

As the group walked through, being sure to follow their professor, they couldn't stop gazing at the beauty of it all.

"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall _is_ indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sightsee." Goodwitch explained. "Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." She finished as she turned around to face teams RWBY, JNPR, Steven, and CRDL, with Jaune struggling to keep up behind all of them, carrying various cases and jars, all of which were the things of team CRDL.

He walked into Cardin by accident, stumbling back in surprise and fear as he gave him an angry look, baring his teeth. Jaune innocently whistled to the side, trying to get Cardin to stop.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap, however this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates." Goodwitch instructed. "We'll rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!" she said, ushering the students to go out on their own with each other.

Cardin gave Jaune a look, then put his hand on Jaune's back. "Come on, 'buddy'! Let's go." Jaune looked down in sadness, before looking back up to his team. Nora was running excitedly into the forest with Ren walking calmly behind her. Pyrrha stood behind them, looking at Jaune expectedly and hopefully. Jaune simply looked down, breaking their eye contact with a look of regret before he turned to go with team CRDL. Pyrrha then looked away, looking down and giving a sigh of frustration and disappointment. She really hoped that Jaune would be able to solve this problem on his own like Steven said he would, but at the moment it didn't appear like that would happen anytime soon.

Steven put his hand on her shoulder, and gave her a look of reassurance. He then went with team JNPR to temporarily fill the void Jaune is leaving.

* * *

Team CRDL sat around relaxing while Jaune obtained all of the sap they needed, and returned with six full jars, one for each of the five students, but with one extra.

When he got in the middle of all of them, he stopped, dropped the jars on the ground, and fell forward in exhaustion.

"Hey! Great work Jauney-boy. Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin said from his tree he was sat up against.

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff." Jaune said in a stuffed up voice.

"Great, great, great." Cardin said, disregarding Jaune's statement. "So, Jaune… I bet you're wondering 'Why did my buddy Cardin tell me to collect _six_ jars of the sap, when there's only five of us?'"

"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes." Jaune replied, still on the ground before sitting up.

"Well, come with me, and you'll find out." Cardin answered, prompting a groan from Jaune.

* * *

The five of them lied down on a small ridge overlooking everyone else not far below. They were all busy collecting their sap, and none of them noticed the group not far away.

"Cardin, what's going on?" Jaune asked worried, unsure of why they were spying on their classmates.

"Payback" Was all he said after a moment with a determined face.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune said under his breath, looking back over to his partner crouching down with her back turned to them, trying to collect more sap. "What're you-" Jaune began, but was interrupted by Cardin slamming his fist on the ground with a thud

"That's the girl. Red-haired know-it-all thinks she's so smart. Alright boys…" He began, taking a box with a large 'W' on the front out from behind him. From the box resounded a loud buzzing noise. "Last night, ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps," Jaune looked at it in horror, now realizing what Cardin was doing. "And now, we're gonna put them to work." He finished. One of the other boys of team CRDL put his hand on Jaune's shoulder in a way that said 'good job'.

Jaune laughed nervously.

"Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things _looove_ sweets. I'm thinking it's finally time we show _her_ a thing or two." He finished. He then helped Jaune up from the ground. "And _you're_ gonna do it." He said, shoving the sixth jar of the sweet sap into Jaune's hands.

"Do what?" asked Jaune, unsure.

"Hit her with the sap." He said in a stern voice. "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." He threatened.

Jaune looked at the jar of sap in his hands, thinking over what he could do. He looked at team CRDL before turning towards Pyrrha. He then got in a stance, ready to throw the jar. Was he really going to go through with this? Was doing what Cardin said, all just to keep his secret about his fake transcripts _really_ worth the tradeoff of hurting his _team_? Was it really worth it to be so selfish, even if his secret would potentially mean the end to his lifelong dream? NO. It most certainly was not. Jaune is a team leader, and his duty is to protect his team and give them direction and someone to look up to. Not only that, but if he failed to do his duties, what good would he be? His team would fall apart, unable to function at the fall of their leader. Jaune had finally decided that enough was enough. He was done with Cardin, and he didn't give a damn what the consequences were. No one was going to hurt his team, his _friends_ , if he had something to say about it.

"No." He said, the jar still in his hand ready to throw it.

"What did you say?" Cardin asked threateningly to Jaune, who now brought the jar down to his side.

"I said… NO!" He turned around and threw the jar at Cardin, smearing a bunch of the sap on his chest armor. Jaune quickly realized his actions however, and saw that Cardin was now _very_ upset with him.

"Oh-hoho, you've done it now." Cardin said with an angry chuckle.

Jaune was then taken in the arms of Cardin, and punched violently in the head, forcing him onto the ground. Cardin then proceeded to pick him up by the collar before punching him once more in the face, bruising it under his right eye.

"You _know_ that wasn't very smart Jauney-boy." He then picked him back up by the collar again. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny. Tiny. Pieces!"

"I don't care _what_ you do to me." Jaune replied, no discernable emotion on his face or in his voice. He then straightens his limp head up to look Cardin in the eye, "But you are _not_ messing with my team." He finished with a determined look and a determined expression to match.

"What, you think talking like that makes you tough?!" Cardin asked, now dangling Jaune off the ground. "You think you're a big strong man now?!"

Jaune's limp head, at first an emotionless expression, excepting his fate, then gave way to a small smirk while looking off in the distance with a shrug and a silent chuckle.

This angered Cardin more than anything, seeing that his victim all of a sudden doesn't care about what's going to happen to him because he's 'protecting his team'? Well Cardin wasn't going to let Jaune off the hook so easily, he was going to teach him another lesson. Cardin pulled back his arm for another powerful punch, and threw it at Jaune's head.

In a flash of blinding white light, Cardin recoils his hand in pain, now throbbing. Jaune falls to the ground. Upon sitting up, Jaune sees his arms pulse with his white aura around him for a few moments. The bruises and injuries he had previously sustained are now gone, fully healed. Jaune used his aura defensively without realizing it, saving him from Cardin's blow.

Jaune's dumbfoundedness towards what just happened was rudely interrupted by one of Cardin's teammates kicking him in the back, forcing him onto the ground oncemore. Jaune looked up at Cardin with determination and defiance in his eyes.

"Let's see how much of a man you _really_ are." Cardin said menacingly.

However, before Cardin could do anything, his angered stated was quickly interrupted by a loud growl behind him. Quickly turning around, they saw that the cause of the sound was from a giant Ursa. Easily over a hundred years old, with spines all across its back, and bony plates protecting its neck, shoulders, sides, and arms. It was easily an alpha Grimm, and it was something way out of the hunters-in-training's abilities to take down on their own.

The Ursa charged out of the forest, stopping just as it got into the small clearing they were in, and stared down Cardin with a low and menacing growl. It then stood up on its hind legs, making it clear that it was more than twice the height of a full grown man. It sniffed the air, looking for something, before it focused on Cardin's chest plate, covered in the sweet red sap from the trees. It then went on all fours, focusing on Cardin, and roared right in his face, its head easily larger than Cardin's own torso, and he was the tallest man there.

Cardin looked at the two teammates to either of his sides, before they both ran away in the opposite direction along with the third member of team CRDL like the real cowards they were, leaving Cardin and Jaune on their own to face the Ursa on their own.

Cardin looked at the beast with a scared look on his face before the Ursa swiped his right arm into his left side, throwing him away to the ground.

Jaune, who was sitting up at the time, watching from behind Cardin, was now face to face with the Grimm, looking it in the eye. The moment was brief however, as the Grimm moved his head towards Cardin, before moving on the bully, still on the ground, as it was more attracted to the scent of the sap than the smell of Jaune's fear.

The Ursa was now right on top of Cardin, right at the end of his feet. Cardin put on a defiant look and brought up his mace to protect himself from the Ursa's next blow. His face soon returned to helplessness however as the Ursa swiped the mace out of Cardin's hand, sending it in front of Jaune, who was across the small clearing.

Jaune weighed his options. He was the only other person there that could do something, and who knows how far away help is? He could either help Cardin, his _bully_ , or he could run away, and leave him to his fate.

* * *

In the distance, NPR, Steven, and RWBY could hear the sound of the alpha Ursa in the distance, their silent, peaceful sap collecting interrupted by the menacing sound.

"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked nervously. Before anyone could respond, the three team members of team CRDL ran through the forest away from the scene.

"Ursa! Ursa!" One of the two said as he kept running, but was abruptly stopped by Yang, who picked him up by the collar.

"What?! Where?" She asked, trying to get the man to focus.

The coward then pointed in the direction in which they ran from before saying "Back there! It's got Cardin!"

Pyrrha dropped her jar of sap on the ground upon hearing his words. She knew what that implied considering Jaune was not among the three that were running away. "Jaune!" she said with a worried tone.

Ruby went into leader-mode. "Yang! You and Blake go get professor Goodwitch!" Yang released the coward, letting him resume his running.

"You two, go with them!" Pyrrha commanded Nora and Ren. "There could be more!"

Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose, and Pyrrha took out Mil ó, while Steven chambered a round in Der Befreier, and Weiss readied Myrtenaster, and they all ran into the woods to try and help.

* * *

Cardin tried to run away from the Grimm, but as he ran, the Ursa jumped over and in front of him with incredible speed and agility, before swiping his arm over Cardin, knocking him down and cutting off his escape route. He quickly turned over on his hands and knees and tried to crawl away. "Crap! Crap! Crap!" He yelled as he tried to get away.

Pyrrha, Weiss, Ruby, and Steven arrived at the edge of the clearing, now watching what was going on.

"Oh no!" Pyrrha said upon seeing the Grimm advance on Cardin, who was now on the ground, curled up and holding his chest in pain, but with Jaune nowhere to be seen. Cardin turned onto his back to watch the Ursa swipe at him once more.

Cardin closed his eyes in anticipation for the blow, but was shocked when he felt no pain, and instead heard the loud 'thud' of the Ursa's hand connecting to metal. When Cardin opened his eyes, he was shocked to see Jaune standing in front of him, his shield up against the Ursa's paw, protecting him from the Grimm. From the edge of the clearing, Pyrrha was amazed to see what Jaune was doing as well, holding off the Grimm's attack from his bully like he was an expert.

The Grimm pushed on Jaune's shield with its arm that was on it, bringing up its right to strike at Jaune.

Weiss brought up Myrtenaster in her arm in a ready stance, but was stopped when Pyrrha told her to wait.

Jaune pushed back on the Grimm's arm with his shield, forcing it off, and then swiped his sword in his right hand across the Grimm's unprotected chest, stumbling it slightly. The Grimm then retaliated with a punch with its right arm that was supposed to pummel into Jaune where he stood, but it only connected with the ground, sending red leaves into the air from the force, as Jaune dodge rolled to the side. The Grimm then retaliated by swiping at Jaune with its left arm with a low blow to Jaune's legs, which he jumped over expertly. The Ursa then threw its right arm into Jaune's stomach as he was still in the air from the jump, and was unable to block the attack, sending him back across the clearing. Jaune immediately got up from the ground, stumbling slightly as he ran back at the Ursa, jumping at it with his sword ready to strike. The Ursa sidestepped, making Jaune miss, and hit him in the back, sending him in the direction he was originally going, and to the ground with force. Jaune rolled a couple times before stopping, getting up on his hands and knees and standing as quickly as he could. His face showed determination, and no fear. He looked down at his scroll, only to see that his aura was in the red, just like in his match with Cardin. But he couldn't stop fighting now. He didn't know Pyrrha, Steven, Ruby, and Weiss were watching from the edge of the clearing, giving him the impression it was just him, as Cardin was still on the ground watching Jaune. He believed it was now or never, and as the Ursa began charging at him, stopping several feet in front of him to taunt Jaune with another roar, Jaune charged at the Ursa, bringing his sword back behind him, but leaving his shield at his side like a novice. The Ursa ran at him in response, jumping slightly as it brought up its right arm to strike Jaune, leaving its underside exposed.

Time seemed to slow down as they were getting closer. Jaune brought his sword up, beginning his strike. However, as the Grimm brought his clawed hand down on Jaune, Jaune hadn't placed his shield correctly, having it slightly too far away from him to be able to effectively absorb the strike, but he didn't notice. Simultaneously, Jaune brought his sword from above him, down and under him, beginning his slice.

Pyrrha saw Jaune's mistake. With the way he had his shield, he wouldn't be able to take the impact of the Grimm, whose strike was going to connect before Jaune's, and he would get seriously injured or killed.

As Jaune got closer to connecting his strike, he unknowingly pushed his shield away from him and below him, making it useless against blocking the Grimm's attack.

Pyrrha extended her hand, before it glowed black around it with her aura.

Jaune's shield then glowed black as well, which Jaune and Cardin didn't notice, but everyone else did. Pyrrha made a minor adjustment, and brought Jaune's shield up to a position where it can block the Ursa's swipe, before releasing her control.

Time sped back up as the swipe on Jaune from the Ursa slid across his shield, which was now placed above him, causing sparks to fly off of it with the distinct sound of scraping metal. Jaune planted his foot in the ground, and then finished his swipe upwards and across the Grimm's neck, cleanly decapitating the Grimm. Its head flew off in the direction opposite of the blow thanks to Newton's laws, and the body of the headless Grimm fell to the ground with a thundering 'thud' as it hit the ground, lifeless and limp, sending red leaves into the air.

Pyrrha's hands stopped glowing, and she retracted it back to her side, and lightly smiled upon seeing what Jaune was able to do as, for all intents and purposes, he believed he did it all on his own, which is exactly what he needed to do to prove to himself that he can be the hero he wants to be.

* * *

Steven looked at her with a raised eyebrow, curious as to what she just did and why from behind Ruby, who was now looking at Pyrrha with confusion as well.

"Uhh… what?" Is all she could manage to say.

"H-how did you…" Weiss began. All six of their eyes were trained on Pyrrha.

"Well…Ruby has her speed, Steven has his shapeshifting, you have your glyphs… my semblance… is polarity." She explained.

"Wow… you can control poles…" Said an awestruck Ruby, who didn't have an idea as to what polarity actually meant, but she wasn't _entirely_ wrong about it.

"No you dunce, it means she has control over magnetism." Weiss explained.

"Magnets are cool too." Ruby said, still awestruck,

Pyrrha then turned to leave the scene, and began walking away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened." Ruby added.

Pyrrha turned back to them with a small smile. "We could… or perhaps we could just keep it our little secret." She said.

Now that Jaune had proved to himself that he could still be a hero despite how he got here, all he needed to do was confront Cardin after saving his sorry ass, and Pyrrha knew that was exactly what he was going to do. Steven saw this, and agreed with her.

"Yeah… what they don't know won't hurt them." He added before turning back and walking away with Pyrrha, giving her a subtle thumbs up.

* * *

Cardin had finally sat up, and he wore a regretful expression, which was made for several reasons, only one of which being his failure to kill the Grimm himself.

Jaune walked over to him, his face bruised and cut from the fight. He wore an unamused look on his face that was mixed with some aggression towards Cardin.  
Jaune extended his hand to Cardin to help him up.

Cardin accepted it, and stood up in front of Jaune. "Holy crap Jaune!" he tried to say, pretending to be his friend.

Jaune didn't let go of Cardin's hand even though he had no trouble standing up anymore. Jaune looked into his eyes with fierce seriousness and determination when he said, "Don't _ever_ mess with my team… my _friends_ … ever… again." Cardin looked at him with regretful eyes, how honest they were no one knew, while Jaune's expression didn't change. "Got it?!"

Cardin didn't say a word.

Jaune let go of his hand, lightly throwing it back at Cardin, before walking off into the forest towards the rendezvous point to get back with his team and class.

From when he reunited with his classmates all the way to the night, Jaune still distanced himself from his team. He didn't hang out with Cardin, he wasn't doing Cardin's homework, nothing like that. He was refraining from reuniting with his friends and team because he was ashamed of himself for doing what he had to do in order to save his now seemingly dumb secret. He acted selfish, and he realized it. He was aware of it the whole time, but the true reality of it hadn't hit him until now.

* * *

That night, Pyrrha went looking for him, trying to find him in order to talk to him. After not being able to find him in any classrooms, the cafeteria, or any of their rooms, she went to Steven to aid in her search. He thought for a moment before asking her if she thought to check the roof top where they had their conversation the first time, the one that Steven 'eavesdropped' on, which he still denies when she brings it up with him because he justified it as more of a 'listen-in on someone's conversation without them knowing because he cared about them' kind of deal. Pyrrha had to admit that she had never thought of that. The two decided to go and check it out together, but Steven told her to wait for a couple minutes before she went outside, so he could check to make sure he was there to begin with.

"Now how do you plan on doing that?" She asked.

"You just let me worry about that." He replied. Steven then opened one of the windows to his room and put half of himself out the window frame.

"Steven what are you-!" She began, but Steven interrupted her.

"Don't worry," He reassured her. "I'll message you on your scroll when I find out if he's there or not." Steven then flashed red for a moment before turning into a large bald eagle, perched on his window frame.

Pyrrha understood what he was doing, happy and relieved that he wasn't about to jump out the window. She gave a nod to him, showing she understood what he meant.

Steven then turned around and flapped his wings, allowing him to simply jump off the window frame and fly off.

Steven flew around in a circle for a minute nearby, getting his bearings and a feel for the wind before ascending upwards towards where the two partners were not long ago.

As he flew over the spot, he saw Jaune standing there in his uniform near the edge of the roof, staring off into the city of Vale. Jaune didn't notice Steven, or the Eagle itself for that matter, as it flew above him, and silently landed on the edge of the roof behind him, above the door to the roof.

Now on something remotely flat, Steven let go of his scroll which he had been carrying with him in his talons, and placed it on one of the shingles, which would prevent it from sliding off the roof thanks to its rough texture. He then scooched over a little bit before retracting his wings to his body, before he leaned over and began pecking at his scroll to send a message to Pyrrha.

'He is here. Don't respond, I'm right behind him on the side of the roof. He'll hear the scroll go off.' Is what his message said.

Pyrrha was relived and grateful that Steven was willing to go to such great lengths, albeit strange ones from time to time, to help her and everyone else out. She began to type 'ok', but then remembered that he told her _not_ to respond.

Steven saw that Pyrrha was typing something in response on his own phone, and though 'No, don't you do it!' before it went away.

* * *

A couple minutes later, Pyrrha silently came out onto the roof. Steven remained perched behind them, and she looked up to him to see he was there. He gave her as good of an encouraging nod as he could as an Eagle, which Pyrrha thankfully understood.

Jaune was unaware that Pyrrha had come onto the roof, but was not startled nor taken aback as she made her presence more known with her audible footsteps from the heels or her school uniform.

"No Cardin tonight?" She asked as she walked up next to him, turning towards him. "I thought you two were 'best buds'." She said in as little of a mocking way as possible, trying not to sound angry or upset him.

Jaune hadn't changed his gaze until she finished her sentence. His look changed to an apologetic one as he slowly turned to face his partner. "Pyrrha…" he began. "I'm sorry. I was a jerk, and… you were only trying to be nice, and…I had all of this _stupid 'macho'_ stuff in my head-"

"Jaune." Pyrrha cut him off, grabbing his attention and returning his gaze to her. "It's okay." She assured him, and brought a small smile to his face. "Your team really misses their leader y'know." She added, returning his smile. She then turned back towards the door, and began to walk back to their room. Raising her voice so Jaune could hear her from behind, she added "You should come down! Ren made _pancakes!_ " she said with a slight singing of her words. "No syrup though, you can thank Nora for that."

Jaune thought about saying something, he didn't want her to leave just yet. As she got close to the door that led back inside, Jaune quickly stopped her.

"Wait!" He called out, raising his hand in objection. Pyrrha turned around to face him. Jaune let out a sigh before continuing "I _know_ I don't deserve it after all that happened, but… would you… still be willing to help me?" He asked shyly, holding his right arm with his left, until looking her in the eye with some confidence, "To help me become a better fighter!" He smiled, but as Pyrrha gave an unamused expression before turning her back on him, his smile quickly turned into a sad frown. He thought that he didn't deserve her help after everything from that.

However, as Pyrrha turned around, and once her face was hidden from his view, her neutral expression quickly turned into one of happiness, and excitement. She was overjoyed, and struggled to contain it for the fear of showing it. She would get the opportunity to help the one she cared about as more than just her porter or her teammate, and along with it, a chance to get to know him, and a chance for him to get to see her on a different level that was more personal, which would allow for her to begin placing the building blocks to a relationship with Jaune.

'He was right.' She thought. 'Steven said that Jaune only needed time to figure things out before he came back, and then asked me to help him. How did he know that, I may never know, but I'm overjoyed that he is right.'

Pyrrha closed her eyes before adopting a wide grin. She opened her eyes, and without tilting her head as to give off to Jaune that she was showing positive emotions like this, gave Steven a stare that said 'thank you.' With immense gratitude. She didn't want to make herself obvious to Jaune about her true feelings for him just yet. She didn't want to scare him or worry him, and wanted to make sure he felt the same way towards her before she tried anything too big or bold.

Steven made sure Jaune wasn't watching before he closed his eyes, and bent forward, bringing his right wing in front of him in a bow that said 'It was my pleasure'.

When Jaune saw Pyrrha begin to turn around, having her face return to its same neutral one, he kept his apologetic expression. He thought she was going to scold him, to yell at him, or at least give him some stern words. As she walked back over to him, he kept eye contact, trying to read her expression, but couldn't. When she was right in front of him, she immediately shoved him to the ground, which Jaune was certainly not expecting at all.

"Oof! _Hey!_ " He said as he hit the ground.

"Your stance is all wrong." Pyrrha began. "You need to be wider, and lower to the ground." She explained with her hands on her hips.

Jaune looked at her confused, but understood what she meant when she extended her arm to help him up off the ground, realizing that she would help him, even through what he did. That spoke volumes of his teammates to him, showing him that they were always with him through whatever he did, just because they were teammates, and they cared about him. There was also another hidden motive behind Pyrrha's reasoning, but for now that would remain hidden to him for some time. She'll tell him when she thinks he's ready.

Jaune took Pyrrha's hand and she helped him up off the ground. "Let's try that again." She said. The two stared into each other's eyes, and Jaune gave Pyrrha a grateful smile, which Pyrrha returned with her own. She had to fight really hard at hiding her blush from the moment, but she was able to keep it down thanks to the cool breeze from the nighttime wind.

* * *

Steven watched on as Pyrrha began helping Jaune. He hoped this would eventually evolve into something more for the two of them in the long run. Steven took the opportunity of the two being preoccupied to fly off unnoticed with his scroll in his talons once more. He flew back into his open window before returning to his human form. He decided to go to sleep. It had been a long day, and it had ended on a high note. It was also kinda late, and luckily he had already done his homework, so he didn't have anything he needed to do. Team RWBY was probably already in bed anyways, and Ren and Nora would probably soon follow. Steven went over to his dresser to retrieve his PJ's. After putting them on, he began to walk over to his bed, but stopped next to his desk. He looked at the completed blueprints for something he had been thinking about ever since he fought Ruby a few days ago. It was going to be the solution to the multi-staged problem he had of being disarmed by his opponent, and being able to block and grab onto an enemy's weapon and disarm them.

'This weekend.' He thought. 'This weekend I'll go grab some parts.'

Steven then walked over to his bed, lied down, and went to sleep soon after.

* * *

The rest of the week went smoothly. Jaune finally returned to hanging out with his team, team RWBY, and Steven once more. It was great seeing him return to his normal self, and everyone showed it. Cardin didn't bother him anymore either, much to everyone's delight. During classes, Jaune sat next to Pyrrha once more, and no longer isolated himself. At nights, Jaune and Pyrrha would practice some more, and had created a schedule around it. Everyone knew that Pyrrha was training him, but Steven, Ren, and Nora were the only ones who knew her extra motive. Pyrrha hadn't told them about her feelings for her leader, but they could easily see them, and she didn't really have to. They supported her through it, and they made sure to show her when they could.

* * *

During lunch on Thursday, two days after the Forever Fall trip, the nine of them were sitting at their usual table. Steven sat on the end next to Jaune, and diagonal from Blake. Everyone was dressed in their combat gear, as Professor Goodwitch's combat class was right after lunch. They were all talking about how much they either liked or disliked the project that Dr. Oobleck had given them just before lunch.

"This project is bogus! How are we supposed to just pick a _random_ event in history prior to the Second Vacuan Famine that is _somehow_ related to the Faunus Rights Revolution?" Yang groaned. She had no idea how to start something like this.

"Well there's always the riots that you could talk about." Ren put in.

"Yeah, but he said that we can't use any events covered in class." Blake reminded him.

Nora tried to say something, but no one could understand her with the pancake hanging out of her mouth.

Ren pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head in disappointment.

"There's still plenty of events to choose from Yang." Weiss said. "He didn't prohibit us from using events in our textbooks that he didn't go over y'know." Yang's expression didn't really change, she only grew slightly more distressed

"You haven't been reading the textbook, have you Yang?" Blake asked her partner.

"Noooooo" She groaned.

Steven laughed at Yang's predicament. It reminded him of some people he knew from Earth.

Yang looked up at Steven with a bit of fury in her eyes.

"Woah," Steven began, putting his hands up in defense. "No need to get _yang-ry_ with me now." He said with a shit eating grin on his face. Everyone burst out laughing. Yang even began to chuckle at his joke. She was a good sport, which is good, as she does this to everyone all the time. It would be a shame if she couldn't take it herself.

Once everyone's laughter died down, she responded to him. "Alright Steve, if you think you're so _sharp_ …" She began, pointing at his weapon on his back. She then began looking at everyone's face for their reaction, going "huh? Huh?" trying to see who liked her comeback. She thought it was pretty clever, but apparently no one else did. Everyone was silent. Yang deflated a bit.

Ruby put her hand on her sister's shoulder to reassure her. "You tried." She said.

Steven chuckled.

"Anyways…" Yang began again. "What event are you choosing if you think you're so smug?"

"I've decided to go with the Black Desert Prison break in Mistral, 6 years prior to the onset of the war." He told her.

"Why'd you choose that one out of all the other events you could've chosen?" Weiss asked curiously.

"I'm glad you asked. There are a few reasons to my decision. Firstly, it's one of the events less likely to be chosen by everyone else. Second, it's the same prison break that freed General Lagune, who would be a major part of the war, which brings me to my third reason. Thirdly, it will be easy for the reason that it has a direct impact on the conflict. If the General hadn't escaped, then the war wouldn't have necessarily happened the way it did." He explained.

"Interesting." Pyrrha said with actual interest. "I like your methodology."

Steven gave her a smile before turning to Weiss. "What event have you chosen?"

"Well, I'm still deciding between the relationship between the Faunus and the council of Vacuo, and the-" She began, but was interrupted.

* * *

As she was about to give her second reason, Steven was hit by a hard object in the back, causing him to arch his back inwards from the unexpected blow. He shouted briefly in pain at the sudden impact, having hit him right in his spine on his lower back, where his armor doesn't reach.

Everyone looked behind him to see Cardin and his cowardly thugs laughing like crazy. Their aim was right on the mark too, as they were clearly not aiming for Jaune with the solid coconut they had somehow obtained.

Jaune slammed his fist against the table, and turned around, about to get up and confront Cardin, who went against what Jaune said. He was stopped before he could do so by Steven, who put his hand on his shoulder, and forced him to sit back down.

Everyone looked at Steven, waiting to see what he would do. Steven didn't give Jaune eye contact as he forced him back down. He was looking at the table, his right hand in a fist on top of it, his left on Jaune's right shoulder. Steven then looked up when Jaune was sitting down. He looked at everyone with an innocent look, his fist still clenched though.

"Excuse me for a moment, I'll be right back." Steven said, standing up and exiting the table bench.

Everyone's head followed him as he took the long way around the cafeteria, and walked up behind Cardin, who hadn't noticed him leave the table as he was laughing so hard.

The whole cafeteria went silent when they saw Steven walk up behind the school's thugs, who were still oblivious to his presence and the now silent cafeteria. Steven had a look that was unreadable, looking both forcibly happy, but furious. No one could miss the fire in his eyes.

Steven stopped right behind Cardin, just off to his side a little bit.

Steven clenched his fists, ready to do what should have been done a while ago.

Steven growled behind him, much like a tigers, which was thanks to one of the abilities his semblance gave him.

"Hey Cardin!" Steven shouted from behind him, bringing team CRDL out of their laughing fit, and surprising Cardin. "Square up!" he said.

Steven gave Cardin no time to react. As soon as he finished speaking, Steven immediately brought his right arm low, and swept it under Cardin's legs, impacting his arm with the back of his knees, forcing his legs out from under him. Steven then immediately brought back up his arm, continuing it in the direction it was going, and grabbed his right wrist with his left hand, before shoving his right gauntlet's elbow guard right into Cardin's abdomen with as much force as he could, all while Cardin was still in the air after his legs being taken out.

Cardin hit the ground with a loud thud, and an audible groan from him after a moment.

Steven just stood over him, adjusting his gauntlet, then crossing his arms, looking down on him.

Cardin didn't seem like he was in any state to retaliate, so Steven just stood there for a moment. He looked at Cardin's 'teammates', who were all just looking at him wide eyed and with expressions of fear.

Steven narrowed his eyes at them, and faked them, stepping forward and bringing out his fist like he was about to punch them. The three of them recoiled back immediately and put their hands up in a helpless defense.

"HA!" Steven laughed aloud as he recovered and began to walk away. " _Pathetic_ ". He said aloud.

The whole cafeteria erupted in laughter at this, some of them even applauding Steven, who casually walked back the way he came, back to his seat. The cafeteria had calmed down, and Steven sat down, and folded his arms, reclining back slightly and giving a relaxed expression.

"Much better." He said.

The table erupted in laughter.

"Remind me not to mess with you anymore." Said Yang, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't pull something like that on you guys." He motioned back at Cardin with his thumb over his shoulder, who was only now being pulled up by one of his teammates. He had an expression of pure shellshock as he looked at Steven's back. "You'd have to truly piss me off to get me to do that to any of you guys. You're all my friends, and I couldn't possibly hurt any of you." He explained.

"Awwwwwwwww! Stevie wuvs his fwends!" said Yang, prompting another spur of laughter at the table.

Steven couldn't help but to chuckle at it himself. "Yeah, you guys are awesome." He admitted. "You may not be the same friends I had back on Earth… but you guys are certainly on the same level as they were."

"Aha! So you admit we're better!" Yang quickly accused, trying to press him on the matter.

" _Okay_ …" He began with a roll of his eyes. He then leaned back into the table from his comfortable position, unfolding his arms. "First off, none of you could replace my old friends. Not because I don't like you all, but because they were all my friends, and have a special place in my heart. If the situation was reversed, and I ended up on Earth, and I met them second, I'd say the exact same thing about you to them. However, I view all of you as equals to them. Second, I've known them for years, and I've only known you guys for just a few months. However, I am confident that those months will easily turn into years."

"That makes sense!" Ruby said, not at all offended or anything with what he said, but was actually happy with his answer, as was everyone else. Honestly, she'd probably say the same thing if she were in his position.

Everyone else thought the same thing as well, and agreed with her statement.

With that, everyone finished their lunch, and went to Professor Goodwitch's class together.

* * *

Steven was overjoyed when he caught Cardin looking at him with revengeful eyes, only to be brought to a state of fear when Steven simply gave him an evil grin from across the room, bearing his teeth at him, which turned into fangs for a few seconds (another benefit to his semblance), before returning to his normal teeth, making Cardin's expression all the more satisfying.

* * *

On Saturday morning, Steven got dressed a bit early, as he was going to go to Vale to grab some weapon parts for his latest idea. He grabbed the Lien cards the school gave each student as a sort of 'weekly allowance'. It wasn't much, but it was so students could go out to town and grab supplies they needed, or to go and have fun. Every student got the same amount of money, regardless of age or year. However, on birthdays, each student was sent a cupcake and some extra lien, which was very nice of them. It wasn't Steven's birthday however. His birthday wouldn't come for another few months.

Steven put his Lien that he had been saving into his wallet, and began to walk down the hall after locking his door towards the entrance, so he could go catch a shuttle down to the city.

Steven walked by team RWBY's room, who's door was wide open, but was halted when Ruby gave him a friendly greeting when she looked up to see him walking by.

"Hey Steve!" She greeted him, looking up from her comic book while lying on her bed, and putting it aside after folding the corner to mark where she left off. "Where you headed so early?" She asked curiously.

"I'm just goin down to Vale. I'm gonna look around for some weapon parts for an idea I have." He explained. He looked around her room to see that she seemed to be the only one in the room, which was surprising. "Hey, where's everyone else?" he asked.

Ruby responded, "Weiss went to go help Professor Peach with an extra credit assignment, and Blake went to the training area to practice her moves and stuff. Yang's in the bathroom working on her hair."

Steven chuckled before quietly asking "How long does she usually take to do that?" with his left hand on the side of his mouth so Yang couldn't hear him through the bathroom door, which was on the left.

Ruby giggled before answering him, mimicking his action with his hand, "It takes her almost an hour sometimes, so we force her to let us in the bathroom before she goes in there."

Steven chuckled at her answer, but it did fit her profile, being so protective of her golden mane.

An idea then popped into his head. "Hey Ruby, you doing anything this morning, or are you just going to be reading comics all day?"

"Nope." She said with a pop of the 'p'. "That's all I've got planned for today. Why?"

"Wanna come to Vale with me? I could use the company." He said.

Ruby suddenly lit up. "Sure! I'd love to go! I've been meaning to go down there and get some parts for Crescent Rose anyways. Might as well get them now!" Steven smiled. He liked having company wherever he went, regardless of where or who it was with. Ruby then enthusiastically jumped off her bed, and grabbed her scroll and Crescent Rose, putting it on her back.

"You should probably let Yang know we're leaving so she doesn't get worried about you." Steven suggested.

"Ooh, you're probably right!" She said. Ruby then walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it a couple times to get Yang's attention.

"Yeah?" Yang asked in a muffled voice through the door.

"Hey Yang, I'm gonna go with Steve to Vale for a while, ok?"

"Ok! Have fun! And stay safe!" She answered, once again muffled by the door.

"Want me to get you anything while we're out?" Ruby asked her sister.

"Uuuuuuuh….." She said while thinking if she needed anything. "If you find any of those shells I like, could you grab some for me? I'll pay you back!"

"Sure! Anything else?"

"Nope, I'm all set. Thanks sis! Have fun!"

"Thanks Yang! I will!"

Ruby then took her money off of her desk and put it in her pocket.

"Ready?" Steven asked her.

"Yup." She said, closing the door behind her and locking it for her sister's privacy. "Let's go!"

* * *

The two then went down the hallway beside each other towards the landing pads to go catch a shuttle.

The shuttle didn't take long before reaching the terminal below the cliffs of Beacon. When they left the ship, they walked through the bustling terminal, full of tourists and everyday commuters. They walked by a spot in particular that was familiar to Steven.

"Wanna know something kinda funny?" He asked.

"Sure." Ruby answered enthusiastically.

Steven pointed over to the bench he fell asleep on after he took his test to Ruby. "I fell asleep right there after I got here from my combat test. The funny part of it is that I remember _you_ standing right over there, looking really anxious and excited. I fell asleep for probably about an hour, and was awoken when Yang finally came here, and you practically jumped on her" He said with a chuckle. "And then we met over at the shuttle gate for the first time."

"Oooooh yeaaaah, I remember that!" She replied. She then giggled. "Sorry for waking you up I guess."

Steven chuckled at that. "Heh, don't worry about it."

The two continued out of the terminal and walked down many of Vale's streets, on their way to Vale's greater weapon shops, which were all mostly conveniently condensed into one general location.

* * *

The two talked about may things on their way. They gossiped a little about their friends, told stories about themselves that weren't too personal, thought about what life will be like when they graduate Beacon and what they were going to do, and plenty more.

A few questions in particular were on Ruby's mind, but she waited for the right times to ask them.

"Hey, Steven, could ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"So, about your semblance; what are some of the animals you turn into? I've seen you turn into some of the animals that live on Remnant, like your husky and that one time you turned into a Grizzly Bear in Professor Goodwitch's class, but I've never seen any of the other creatures you've turned into before." She finished.

Steven smiled. "Ironically, some of the creatures I've turned into live on Earth as well as Remnant, such as the husky and the Grizzly. The other creatures are also native to Earth, even the colossal beasts that you've seen me turn into. The large reptilian creatures I've turned into, you remember when I turned into a Tyrannosaurus in the Emerald Forest, or when I turned into a Triceratops during my fight with Yang and with you?" Ruby gave a nod. "We call them dinosaurs. There are thousands of them, but they don't live on Earth anymore."

"What do you mean? Did you kill them all?" she asked innocently.

"No, nothing like that. Humans actually came after the dinosaurs went extinct. You see, Earth is over 4 billion years old, and has had life evolving on it for only about a quarter of that time. It started at microscopic, and eventually got bigger. It changed into plants and other organisms, and life began to flourish. About 300 million years before my time on Earth, the dinosaurs began to emerge out of the vast oceans and began to walk on land. All the way up to about 65 million years prior to my time, the Dinosaurs flourished across the planet. Life boomed at certain times, giving way to thousands of different species of life, each different from the other. Some were colossal beasts that ate plants, while others were small predators that worked together to take down large prey. They are truly fascinating. We know about them today because we have been able to find many of their remains buried beneath the Earth, allowing us to know what life was like back then." He explained.

"Woah. That's so cool." Ruby said. "I can tell you really like dinosaurs by the lengthy description you gave too."

Steven chuckled again, "Yeah, you could say that. They were an obsession of mine when I was a kid. I wanted to grow up to be a scientist that dug for and studied them." Steven then pointed to his emblem. "My emblem is a dinosaur, actually. It's a Velociraptor. They were fast, cunning, clever, and deadly. They worked together in packs to take down large prey with ease. Not to mention they look wicked awesome." He finished the last part in his Boston accent, which he actually hadn't used ever since he got to Remnant, which he instantly realized and thought it curious.

Ruby laughed before asking, "Why did you say that so funny?" while giggling.

Steven couldn't help but chuckle once more. "That's actually my accent. I haven't spoken with it until now actually, not since I arrived here. I'm from an area that is around one of the major cities in my region, called Boston, and people around it tend to develop a 'Bostonian accent', which makes us pronounce our a's more significantly, sometimes there are silent h's in some words, and some of our o's to come out over exaggerated too." Ruby giggled again. "In fact, we have a famous quote that we say that sort of proves we have it." Steven chuckled before saying it in a near perfect Boston accent, "Pahk the cah in Havad Yahd, or, Park the car in Harvard Yard."

Ruby began laughing again, which caused Steven to chuckle even more.

After a minute or so, Steven added on, "Another thing about my semblance; apparently Ozpin thinks I have a sort of secondary power. When I get really angry, my eyes glow red and I gain strength, and according to him I become like a Grimm, minus the color change. I'm sure you've seen it, but I'm always in control, unlike when… you know…."

"Yeah" She quickly answered, not wanting to wander into that territory.

The two walked in silence for a few moments before Steven broke it. "Any other questions? I'd be happy to answer them."

"Yeah, I've got a few…" She began, thinking of which one to ask first. She had one in particular in mind, but thought it would be a little too personal, so she refrained from that one. "So what was that idea you mentioned you had back at Beacon? Is it an upgrade or another weapon?" She asked with great enthusiasm. Ruby loved weapons in all respects.

"You'll just have to wait and see." He said with a grin. Ruby whined, she didn't like being left out on a secret that involved a potential weapon. "I'll show it to you when it's done."

* * *

The two made it to an intersection, and waited for the walk light before crossing. The stores they were heading towards were just across the street and down the sidewalk a ways.

The two then walked into the weapon parts store. The store owner welcomed them into his store, and the two began browsing. Ruby stayed close to Steven, however, watching what he was grabbing for parts, so she may be able to get an idea as to what he was making. Steven bought some pieces of steel that were shaped in various ways, some leather, some hard plastic, a few pins, some springs of various design and size, some glass discs with varying magnification, and more. Ruby grabbed some parts she needed for Crescent Rose, either for a spare part or to replace some parts that were failing or old. She also made sure she got some oil so that her weapon could easily function. She also grabbed the latest issue of her favorite weapons magazine. Then they both checkout at the counter, purchasing their respective items.

* * *

The two then walked down the side walk a few stores down, and entered an ammunition shop. Ruby immediately went over and took a look at the different types of Sniper ammunition. Steven first went over to the AR ammunition, and took a good look at the 5.56x45mm ammo. There was a lot of different types of ammo for that size he noticed. There was the typical ammo he used currently, but there was also high explosive, incendiary, high velocity armor piercing, ice, and electric rounds, among others. The cogs immediately began turning in Steven's head. He thought about how militaries often mixed different types of ammunition on a machine gun belt or in an aircraft's weapon, alternating with each shot. 'Well, why not think it could also apply to rifles?' Steven thought. Steven decided to grab a few boxes of each, which surprisingly were not all that expensive at all.

Steven then walked over to where Ruby was to discover she was gawking at the many types of sniper ammunition.

"Looks like you're in heaven." Steven spoke up.

Ruby didn't look at him, she kept staring at the ammunition, trying to decide on what to buy this time. She only nodded to his statement, which confirmed it. She looked just like a kid in a toy store who was told they could get anything they wanted as long as it was under a certain price.

After a minute of smiling at the thought, and Ruby not changing at all, Steven decided to ask her a question.

"So, Ruby. You use a sniper rifle with your scythe, so what kind of ammunition would you recommend to someone?" Steven's question was curiously out of nowhere, as he had an assault rifle, but he had his reasons to asking beyond striking up a conversation.

She also saw how strange it was for him to ask such a question considering what he used, but she pretended not to. She turned to him and began describing the different types to him with enthusiasm.

"Well, you've got many different calibers of ammunition at your disposal, which are all useful in their own way. First you have your .308, which has a high velocity, and has some decent power behind it. It's also very accurate, and it can easily penetrate some thinner armor on a Grimm. Then there's my _personal_ favorite, .338 Magnum, which is extremely high power, but also keeps a high velocity, and accuracy. It's able to easily penetrate through a Grimm's armor, and even sometimes from when it's behind cover. I use that in Crescent Rose. Then there's .50 Cal. rounds, which have even more power, but have less velocity and a bit of a lower range. However, it has tremendous stopping power and armor penetration. There's plenty of other calibers, but these are the main three you'd see in a sniper. In addition to calibers, there's also the different types of ammunition, which I'm sure you're aware of. I personally love the reverse gravity rounds, which I use to propel myself around with Crescent Rose, which is special because it pushes the user around while still firing the bullet, instead of forcing the target back when the bullet impacts." She finished, not even winded.

"Interesting…" Steven said genuinely. He then surprised Ruby by taking a small box of .50 Cal sniper rounds, even though he didn't own a sniper rifle.

"Why do you need those?" She asked very curious.

"Oh, no reason." He replied, making her even more curious.

Ruby then grabbed various boxes of her own ammunition that she finally decided upon, and moved with Steven to the Shotgun ammunition area. Ruby spotted some of Yang's favorite ammunition, some extreme high explosive shotgun shells, which she used in her gauntlets. Steven looked at some similar ammunition, and decided to grab a box for himself, much like he did with the sniper ammunition. Now Ruby was downright suspicious. Why was Steven grabbing ammunition for a weapon he didn't even own? No one she knew of out of their friends owned a sniper or shotgun outside of herself and Yang, but he's grabbing ammunition that they can't use in their weapons. It was downright strange of him, especially with him being so secretive about it. Ruby's energetic mind raced around, trying to draw conclusions and reasons. Several absurd reasons came through her mind. She knew it wasn't for his 'idea', because he grabbed parts that were mostly all incompatible for firing shotgun rounds or sniper rounds, so that wasn't it. He didn't own either type of weapon either. The only somewhat logical thing she could think of was rather strange, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. 'Maybe he has a special someone in mind from Beacon that he wants to find a gift for.' She thought. It's not surprising that she thought of this either, as she was only 15, and 15 year old girls like her usually think about those sort of things whether they mean to or not from time to time, it's just what they do, it's human nature. And for one thing, it would explain why he always leaves or zones out when they start talking about things like love at the cafeteria table or when they're hanging out. Whenever he's in team RWBY's room and they start talking about boys, he always has to 'go to the bathroom', and doesn't come out until they're coincidentally finished. 'Maybe he gets nervous around girls." Ruby thought. The other's figured the same thing, but then why does he act so casual around them? 'Maybe he's only like that around girls he's attracted to?' they thought, among many other things.

One thing they never thought of, however, was that he may have _had_ someone back on Earth. Steven didn't blame them, and he certainly wasn't upset about them talking about a subject that made him uncomfortable about, who was he to tell them what they should talk about? If he was like that, then what kind of friend would he be? Forcing his friends to talk about a subject that he alone is uncomfortable with. Plus, the reasons behind his discomfort it not their faults, it's no ones. Well…. That's not entirely true. From how it appeared to him, it was the voice in his head that one time that caused it, but he can't let that eat him alive, or he will cease to function altogether.

Ruby grabbed some of Yang's preferred ammunition. After a few moments, Ruby spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Ok, I've got everything I needed to get."

"Ok. I'll be ready in just a sec." he said. Steven walked over to the pistol ammunition, and only needed to glance at the box of the ammunition he wanted, and grabbed several boxes of normal dust rounds that were .50 caliber Action Express rounds for handguns. Steven smiled at the sight, and put them in his shopping basket he grabbed at the entrance. "There we go." Ruby was so confused now. "All right, I'm all set now."

"Okay!" She replied.

The two then went to the counter and checked out their items before leaving.

"Now what do you want to do?" Ruby asked Steven.

"Hmmm." He hummed, putting his hand to his chin in thought. He then brought it down and looked at his scroll for the time, 12:38. "Let's go grab some lunch, shall we? I think I saw a nice restaurant on the way here."

"Ok! Sounds good to me!" She said with a wide smile.

The two then walked down the way they came for just a couple blocks before Steven found the place he was thinking of.

* * *

"Ah, there it is." He said pointing to a restaurant named 'O'Reiley's' It looked like a sports bar kind of place, that had some nice burgers or steaks and whatnot. Luckily, that's exactly what it was. It had a heavy Irish influence to it, but that's how Steven sees it, as this isn't Earth. Here, it was a West Mistralian culture that was a minority over there and a small majority here. Vale was a diverse place to begin with.

* * *

The two walked in and were immediately seated at a small booth for two people. Steven ended up ordering a bacon cheeseburger with fresh lettuce and tomato, and a side of fries. Funny enough, Steven actually called them French Fries when he ordered them to the waitress, who was _really_ confused to say the least. Quickly realizing his mistake, he pretended like there was something in his throat before violently 'clearing it of obstructions', before correcting himself by saying just 'Fries' this time. Ruby ordered a turkey and cheese sandwich with a side of fries as well.

When the waitress left, Ruby waited until she was out of earshot before bursting out laughing at how Steven handled the situation. Steven merely shrugged with a smile. He wasn't used to a situation like that, but he had to admit, he _did_ go a little overboard with his correction.

After calming down finally, Ruby couldn't help but redirect her attention at the ammunition that Steven had bought for some reason. Her adolescent mind couldn't get over the thought that Steven might have a special someone in his mind, and she really wanted to know who it was.

Her curiosity quickly got the best of her, and it easily showed on her.

"What is it?" Steven cautiously asked Ruby, who now had a sort of devious smile on her face.

"I've got a bit of a… _personal_ question for ya."

"Ok. What is it?" he asked, cutting to the chase, but he didn't like where it was headed.

"So… I noticed that you bought some ammunition that none of us, especially not yourself, uses in their weapon. Now, don't ask how I got to this conclusion, but I'm starting to think you're buying it for _someone else_." She hinted at him.

Steven wasn't exactly seeing where she was getting at with this. "What are you getting at?"

"Well… I dunno… I was thinking that _maybe_ you had your eyes on someone." She said, smiling innocently. Steven raised a questioning eyebrow, still unsure of what she was getting at, but only because he hoped she wasn't getting at what he _did_ think she was getting at.

Seeing that Steven wasn't really getting it, Ruby let out a sigh. "Look, whenever you're hanging with us or team JNPR, you always excuse yourself from the conversation when we start talking about boys, and assumed it might be a touchy subject for you, cuz you get really shy when you don't leave at those times. So we figured that maybe you have a special someone or someone you admire out there." She said sincerely. "And I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but we're all concerned for you. When we talk about it, your personality makes a 180, and you become unrecognizable until we change the subject. Ren doesn't care when we talk about it, and Jaune seems more than happy to include himself in these conversations when he's around us, so we kinda worried about you, we being Yang, Blake, Pyrrha, Nora, myself, and even Weiss when she partakes in our conversations." She explained.

"No, it's fine. I know I'm like that and I thank you for looking out for me, but I assure you that I am fine. Nothing is wrong, and there is no 'special someone'." Steven quickly said.

Ruby wasn't convinced, however, and gave him a stern questioning look.

Steven sighed in annoyance. "I'm telling the truth. There's no one on my mind like that at the moment."

Ruby crossed her arms, her expression unchanging otherwise.

Steven realized that he was fighting a losing battle, so he gave up, but didn't divulge too much information. "Ok. Fine. First of all, all of the ammunition I bought is for me, and me only. Second, there _is_ someone on my mind, but I can't tell you who it is, as you might not understand, or you would think it silly, or-"

Ruby interrupted him. " _Oooooooooooh!_ Steven loves someone!" she said childishly.

Steven sighed, annoyed. "You see, _this_ is why I didn't tell any of you before."

"Sorry" Ruby said. "Well, who is she?" she pressed on further.

"I said I'm not going to tell you."

"Playing hard to read, huh? I see…" Ruby began. "Is it Weiss?"

"What?! No!"

"Nora?"

"No!"

" _Pyrrha_? I've notice you give her some looks from time to time."

"No, I've just been helping her with some things."

"Oh, ok. Some 'things'. I gotcha." Ruby said with an over exaggerated wink, followed by a giggle

"Jesus Ruby, nothing like that! I would never do such a thing! And why are you thinking these things? You're 15!"

Ruby laughed. "I know, I'm just teasing ya! Don't worry!"

Steven gave her an unamused expression.

Ruby began pressing on with the possibilities. She gasped upon realizing who was left in their group of friends, herself and Yang. She intentionally skipped herself in the questioning line. " _Do you have feelings for my sister?!_ " she said rather threateningly.

"No." he said, plain and simple.

"Then who is it?"

"It's no one you know, I can definitively say that."

" _Come ooooon_! Tell me! I won't tell anyone else, I promise!"

Steven took a moment to respond, thinking for a moment. He hated keeping secrets from his new friends, but sometimes secrets must remain hidden from time to time. However, Ruby is really trustworthy, and telling one other person wouldn't _necessarily_ hurt.

Thankfully, he was saved as their food came.

"Look, let me think about it, and maybe I'll tell you later."

"Okay!" Ruby said, happy she got him to at least consider it.

The two then ate their lunch. Steven's was absolutely delicious, perhaps the best burger he ever had, or at least the best he's had in a long time. They sat and ate for a while, enjoying their meals, making small talk in between bites. Most of it was Ruby asking about the food on Earth, which is highly similar to the food here.

When they finished, Steven paid the check, claiming that Ruby didn't need to pay, and considered it to be a sign of good friendship, and that he was doing it purely because she was a great friend of his. They then began walking back to the terminal to head back to Beacon.

* * *

On the way back, Steven thought deeply about whether he should answer Ruby's question or not. On one hand, it would mean someone else knows, bringing it to a grand total of two people, which isn't bad, but Ruby would probably eventually tell Yang or something, and then the rest of team RWBY, who would tell the rest of team JNPR, and then all it would take was Nora's big mouth before the whole school knew. 'Great. The possibilities are certainly wondrous, aren't they?' he thought. Then Steven thought about why she was so curious about it. Her being the way she is with her hyperactive personality and whatnot would explain it, but only up to a certain point. The reason honestly evaded him; he couldn't figure it out for himself. Well, there was _one_ way to figure it out, but that would require him telling her, and then asking her why she wanted to know so bad.

"Alright, fine." He thought out loud.

Ruby immediately knew what he was talking about, and was overjoyed at his decision.

"But!" he added, "You tell _no one._ Got it?"

Ruby nodded eagerly.

Steven took a minute to gather what he had to say. He didn't want to go into detail, as little as possible preferably, but enough to get Ruby to stop.

"Back on Earth… I had someone who I loved very much." He started. Ruby's face grew sad at the news very quickly. "And she loved me back just as much." Ruby's sad face intensified. "Her name was Jenny, and we had a great life ahead of us, but now I'm here, and she's still there for all I know. So for now, I'm not letting go of her just yet, and am maintaining my status as taken until I've come to terms with it. The reason I shy away when you all talk about boys and love and what not is because it reminds me of her, and I don't want to tell anyone about it because I don't want everyone's sympathy, it's too much for me. It'll make me want her back even more. That, and I don't like feeling needy or vulnerable when I get so upset." He finished, not going any further into details. He kept the photo of his a secret too, hoping to god she didn't remember the second photo like Pyrrha did.

After a few moments, Ruby could only manage to say "Oh… Steven, I'm sorry I brought that up, I had no idea…"

"Don't be. You couldn't have had any idea. It's not your fault." He assured her.

"Well… You always have us. Not like that," She hastily added. "But as friends. We'll always be there for you if you need to talk about something, and I'm sure team JNPR would be fine with it too. And if not, then you've got me. I'll listen to you if no one else does." She says.

Steven unexpectedly hugged her, causing her to blush again, but she was able to hide it, and returned his friendly hug. She only reached up to his chest with her head due to her short height oddly enough. She was just under a foot shorter than him.

"Thank you Ruby. That means the world to me." Steven thanked her. "And if you ever need someone to talk to, say you have something that Yang can't help you with, or something you need a second opinion on, or even if you just want to talk, I'll be there for you as well."

"Thank you Steven."

They stood there for a minute until Ruby broke the embrace.

"We should probably get going; we'll miss the next shuttle if we're not careful." She reasoned, looking up at Steven.

"Good call."

* * *

On the way back, Steven felt like he should ask her an equally personal question. It's only fair, isn't it?

"Hey Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"I got a question for you myself that's equally as personal."

Ruby didn't like where this was going, but she didn't really have a choice now, did she? "Sure, what is it?"

"Who do you have a thing for? Like who are you attracted to, if there is someone."

Steven kept looking ahead, and thank dust that he did, otherwise he would've seen Ruby's nervous look on her face. In all honesty, she was unsure about how she felt about several people. She had only recently met three boys who are now really good friends with her, and on a level that no other guy has ever known her on before other than her father and her uncle. She had no true answer as to how she felt about Ren, Jaune, and Steven. She thought differently about all three of them. And since she was still going through puberty essentially, she was very conflicted, as is normal, and has a hard time figuring out her own emotions. She knows it's a part of the process, but she wished it wouldn't be now out of all times in her life.

Ruby didn't want to admit her possible feelings for Steven as well as Ren and Jaune, especially since 1, she was unsure about them, and 2, because of what he just told her. If she told him, who knows how he would react?

So instead, she decided to give him a little white lie. "Umm, now that you mention it… I don't really think there is someone on my mind like that to be honest."

"That's fine. You're still young as it is. You'll find someone, I'm sure of it." Steven reassured her, unaware of her reaction to his question.

"I know." She said in her normal cheery attitude. "I can wait."

The two made their way back to the terminal in time to catch their return shuttle to Beacon. They talked about other things along the way and on the shuttle. For a while it was Ruby asking about Earth, or Steven about Remnant.

* * *

When the two rounded the corner to their hallway, they stopped in front of team RWBY's room.

"Thanks for taking me with you Steven. It was a lot of fun!" Ruby said to him.

"No problem! It was my pleasure. Besides, I like having the company."

Ruby smiled back at Steven.

As was procedure, Ruby knocked on the door, making sure that is was safe to come in, just in case someone wasn't decent.

"Come _iiiiiin_!" Yang sang from the other side of the door.

Ruby opened the door to see Yang relaxing on her bed reading a book. Weiss was at her desk working on homework, and Blake was on her bed reading as well.

"I'm back!" Ruby said to them before entering the room.

"Hello Steven." Weiss greeted him.

"Afternoon Steve." Blake said, looking up from her book.

"Hello everyone!" he returned.

Yang put her book aside before jumping down from her bunk bed. "Steve, you can come in you know. No need to be so formal." Yang said with a small laugh.

Steven chuckled. "Sorry, old habits die hard, I suppose." He said as he walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Well, aren't _you_ a gentleman." Weiss said half sarcastically.

Steven smirked at her and chuckled lightly.

"So where did you guys go?" Blake asked the two.

"We went to Vale for the day. We went to a couple weapon parts stores and some ammo shops." Steven told them.

"Oh, speaking of which, here you go Yang!" Ruby said as she reached into her shopping bag and took out Yang's special ammunition.

"Aww sweeeeeet! Thanks Rubes!" Yang said excitedly "How much were they?"

"Just give me 15 Lien and we'll call it even." Ruby answered.

"Man, ammo is getting cheaper these days! I love it!" Yang said, taking 15 Lien out of her wallet and giving it to Ruby.

"Where else did you go? You obviously went somewhere else; otherwise you guys would've been back a while ago." Weiss interjected.

"We went out to lunch before we came back is all." Steven added.

Yang immediately adopted her signature mischievous grin again.

'Oh no. Here it comes.' Steven thought to himself.

" _Ooooooooh!_ You two went out on a _date_ now, huh?" Yang said. Weiss and Blake became interested, and listened intently, curious as to how this would play out.

"Seriously Yang?" " _Yaaaaang!_ " Steven and Ruby said at the same time.

"I didn't know you had a thing for my sister Stevie." She said, now advancing towards him.

"Yang! It's not like that! Leave him alone!" Ruby tried to reason with her sister, but she was having none of it. Ruby was internally panicking. She didn't want to force Steven to tell everyone in the room what he told her earlier, as it was clearly difficult for him to tell her what few details he did.

"No, no Ruby, I think the adults need to have a little chat here." Yang insisted, now standing in front of Steven, with her hands on her hips.

"Yang, seriously. _We're just friends_." Steven insisted once more.

"I hope you treated her right, Steven." She began, completely disregarding what Steven just said. Steven sighed and rolled his eyes. "You'd be her first you know. And just so you know, if you break her heart, I'll break a lot more of you in return." She threatened him.

"Okay, is this _really_ necessary Yang?" He said, trying to get her to stop embarrassing the two of them. By now, Steven had put down his shopping bag on the ground and folded his arms. "We. Are. Just. _Friends."_ He repeated.

Yang disregarded him once more, continuing on, "And if I ever," she began, pointing an accusing finger in his face, " _ever_ catch you touching her where she shouldn't be touched, may dust help you-"

"YANG!" Steven and Ruby yelled at her in unison. Ruby now felt slightly violated, and shrunk where she stood. Steven noticed this, and realized he needed to stop this before it could get any worse, if that was possible.

Steven placed his hands on her shoulders. "Yang! Seriously stop! You're making Ruby feel super uncomfortable! Look, we're just friends, and we were just having a fun day out together! We have no feelings towards each other in that way and we've both addressed that with each other. We were just having fun!" He insisted once more before retracting his hands from her shoulders.

Yang took a moment, crossing her arms. After a second, she said "Prove it."

"Seriously Yang?!" Ruby said, completely done with her sister being 'big sister' at the wrong time, and walking over to her trying to pull her away, but she wouldn't budge.

Steven stood there. He clenched his fists angrily. He only had one thing to prove that he was telling the truth in all honesty, and it was the one thing he was struggling to hide.

"Yang, you're crossing over a line you do _not_ want to cross…" Steven warned her.

"Try me." Is all she said, her expression unchanging.

"Yang, I think you're going too far with this…" Blake tried to reason with her. Yang ignored her.

Steven's eyes pulsed red for a moment in extreme anger, but he quickly recomposed himself. He didn't want to do something stupid. Yang's did the same thing, thinking he was trying to intimidate her.

Steven had enough of this. He saw no other way out. "Fine. You want to see some hard proof?! Fine." Steven put his hand in his pocket and quickly took out the picture of Jenny and himself, and shoved it into her face without letting go of the picture. "HAPPY?!"

Yang's expression instantly faded away, realizing what it implied.

Blake, Weiss, and Ruby all tried to look at the picture themselves, but Steven put it away before they could see it on purpose.

Yang was utterly speechless. "I… Steven, I… I'm so sorry I didn't kno-"

Steven raised his hand. "Stop." He interrupted. This apparently hit Yang hard. Everyone else could only look on; waiting to see what Steven was going to do. Steven took a moment to calm down before he continued. "Look, Yang, I know you are overprotective of your sister. I get that, I understand that you are concerned for her in regards to everything. You constantly protect her from things that could harm her, and you are always there to be her big sister when she needs you, and I get that. But it's another thing when both of us say it's not what you think and you keep going. I understand that when it comes to this subject, you are going to be _extremely_ protective of her in that situation, but you went _way_ too far when you got too into detail. She's fifteen for crying out loud! I would _never_ do what you implied to her to begin with, and that was just crossing the line to begin with. Look, I know you're just doing what you think is right, just please, next time think before you act. That's all I ask. I think of all of you as really good friends, team JNPR included, nothing more, nothing less."

Yang took a moment before responding. "Steven, I'm so sorry. I had no idea about…. That… and I didn't mean to go that far. I'm just really protective of Ruby after what happened to us and…" Yang's eyes began to tear up.

Steven put his hands on her shoulders again, this time reassuringly. "Yang. I understand why you did it. I hold no ill will or grudge against you for it. Just please be careful with what you say next time." They stood there for a moment before Steven added "and I accept your apology."

Yang breathed a sigh of relief, breaking the tension in the room finally. "Thank you Steven. I'm _so_ sorry I did that." Yang then turned to Ruby, who was still a little shrunken down from what Yang implied back there. "And I'm sorry for doing that to you too Ruby. I didn't mean to give you those… images…" She finished before hugging Ruby.

"It's okay Yang. I forgive you." Ruby spoke up.

"To be honest, we probably would have straight up told you if we were the way you thought we were Yang." Steven said. "We wouldn't want to keep something like that secret from you, not that we thought we would be able to do that to begin with." Steven joked, prompting Yang to laugh.

"Heh, you're damn right Stevie." She said with her grin again.

"Please don't call me that. I don't like that name."

Yang only grinned.

"He's right Yang, we'd probably tell you immediately, we wouldn't want to hide it from you." Ruby added.

"Thank you." Yang said.

After an awkward moment of silence, Steven was able excuse himself.

"I'm going to work on some stuff in my room now. If anyone needs me for something, I'll leave my door open."

Everyone nodded, allowing him to leave with his things.

* * *

Steven got into his room, and instantly gave a sigh of relief. He dodged one _helluva_ bullet that shouldn't have been fired to begin with. He left the door open as promised, and sat down at his desk. He cleared some things to give him a little extra space to work. He then took out the contents of his shopping bag, placing the parts he purchased on the desk, and putting the ammo he bought on his bed to put away later.

Steven had nothing left to do today, so he decided to work on his little project the rest of the day, only going to the cafeteria around dinner time to do anything else. At the dinner table, Team RWBY and Steven pretended like nothing had happened which is exactly like they all wanted it to be.

When they got back from dinner, Steven continued to work on his project into the night. He kept his door open regardless, but was careful not to be too loud as it got later.

At around 10, Steven was actually finished with his project already, minus a few main components. But those wouldn't take too long to do. Not realizing exactly what time it was, he only took a small break to stretch and change into his PJ's before continuing his work, determined to finish it then and there.

Well, it only took him about another hour and a half to finish it surprisingly. Steven took his project in his hands. It was beautiful.

What Steven had built was a Desert Eagle handgun that fired the legendary .50 Caliber Action Express cartridge, which is legendary for its power and kick. This would allow him to have a backup weapon should he need one in battle. Not only was it a handgun however. It was more than that. With an identical switch on the back of the pistol grip as on his M4, a flip of the switch showed a successful transformation from giant handgun to war axe.

In the transformation, the grip straightened out with the slide and barrel, but didn't obstruct the slide's action, bringing the hammer inside of it, protecting it. The grip then lengthened and rounded out, and the black plastic that covered it expanded down and around the handle. The trigger guard disappeared, and the trigger itself retracted into the handle, making it more of a button. The barrel rounded out further as well, then extended, forming the rest of the handle of the war axe.

The problem however, was that the axe blade wasn't on the gun yet. Steven hadn't decided how he'd implement it yet, so currently the gun only created a hard two-foot staff that shot bullets out the end. Steven quickly figured it out though. Because he already made the blade, all he had to do was attach it. The blade was shaped in a particular way. It extended out at the top, then curved sharply downwards. The bottom part of the blade then came back in, but went back towards where the blade began, creating a space between the blade and handle, which Steven intended to use to help him grapple and disarm his foes. It was light weight, and it gave Steven options, which he liked.

He attached the blade in a way that made it fixed. Unlike all of the other parts of the weapon, the blade would always remain in the position it was attached in, much like Ren's StormFlowers.

While it was in its pistol form, the axe blade stood just like Ren's StormFlower blades did. Steven added a hinge to it so it wouldn't stab his hand when he was firing the weapon, and when he turned it into a War axe, the blade would actually rotate 90 degrees forward to form the blade.

Steven was proud of his work once again. He placed his weapon down to look at it.

Its look was scratched and crude. He was going to paint it, but he decided to let that wait until tomorrow. He also needed to create a custom holster for it with the leather he bought, but he'd have time to do that tomorrow too.

Steven decided to call it a day, and was finally about to turn in for the day. He backed out his chair from his desk, but was stopped from standing up when he heard someone knock on his door.

Steven looked over to see Ruby dressed in her PJ's in the doorway.

"Hey Ruby." He greeted her, getting up.

"Hey Steve."

Steven motioned her inside. She walked in, and Steven closed the door behind her.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Nothing much. I just wanted to thank you for taking me with you today is all. I had a lot of fun." She said sort of embarrassed.

"Well, thanks for coming with me. I had a lot of fun too, even with what happened afterwards, but I'm over that."

Ruby laughed nervously. "Heh, sorry about that. Yang can get that way. It's not the first time she's done something like that, and it certainly won't be her last."

"It's cool. I completely understand how she feels." He replied. "I'd probably be the same way if my sister was younger than me."

Ruby giggled at the thought. "Yeah, I can imagine you now." She said.

Steven chuckled at her comment.

After a moment, Steven was surprised with a hug from Ruby. "Thank's again Steven, for taking me with out, for buying me lunch, everything. It was a lot of fun. And thank you again for being so understanding."

Steven returned her hug. "It was my pleasure, and you're welcome."

With that, they broke their friendly embrace, and Ruby and Steven walked back to the door.

Ruby looked at his desk momentarily, seeing his project he had, but decided not to comment on it right now. She'd save it for the morning. Steven opened the door for her, letting her leave on her own.

She turned around when she was outside the door. "Goodnight Steve."

"Goodnight Ruby. Sweet dreams."

"You too." She smiled. Ruby then left him alone, and returned to her room.

* * *

Ruby opened her door, revealing that Blake was in the shower down the hall and Weiss was in their own bathroom, getting ready for bed. Yang was on her bed, already ready for bed. Ruby saw this as good a time as any to talk to her older sister about something, not sure when the next time they'd have time to talk would be.

"Hey Yang?"

"Yeah Ruby?" She responded, putting her book down again.

"Can I talk to you about something real quick while we have a little time to ourselves?"

Yang jumped down from her bunk bed again. "Sure Rubes. What about?"

Ruby took a moment to gather herself. "It's about Steve…"

* * *

 _As Jaune is finally able to see himself as a true leader, and someone who is fit to be at Beacon, now with the tutelage of his partner and secret lover Pyrrha Nikos, his power and abilities will only increase as time goes on._

 _Ruby discovers she may have feelings for the guys she is friends with, and is conflicted with them. Consulting her sister while she can about them, will she show feelings for our hero? Or is she just confused?_

 _And soon, Steven and Team RWBY will find out what it means to be a hunter/huntress, as evil rears its ugly head. Will they be able to stop them? Or will something tear them apart? They'll need all the help they can get, which will come in some surprising forms. New friends will be made, and old ones will be reunited next time in Chapter 9: New and Old Friends._

* * *

 **Hey guys! sorry it took me awhile to update this, I went super overboard with the chapter again. It's really good though, and it's the last chapter I have until we get into some real action! next chapter will take place during chapter's 15 and 16 of Volume 1, but with some little twists of mine which im sure youll all like.**

 **As always dont be afraid to send in a review. If you have any questions, I'll be sure to answer them at the beginning of the next chapter, or before hand should time allow me to do so. Have a good day everyone, and thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 9: New and Old Friends

**OK! It's time to answer the reviews! There's only one (sadly), but I will respond to it regardless. All of your review are valued, so don't feel like they dont matter to me, they actually mean a lot to me.**

 **Scoolio: I'm glad you like it! and There will be plenty more, I can assure you! I've got _plans_ for this story, and I intend on finishing this story at some point.**

 **Keep the reviews coming you guys! I dont care if you just want to say hi, or something, ask a question, feel free to criticize, I dont mind! Anything is welcome!**

 **On that note, I also want to address something quickly before you continue to the story. School is starting back up for me on August 30th, and I have recently gotten a new job, which will be giving me many more hours than my old one, so I wont have as much free time as I used to, especially since I'm taking 4 AP classes in high school and (hopefully) three clubs at school. This will not mean I will cut down on content. It will only mean I cant post it as often. I will continue this story, if no others, to the end. This one is like my baby, and I will not see it unfinished.**

 **On a similar note, sorry for the 21k + words in this chapter alone. I get writing and I cant stop. Plus, If i dont write what i do, then the characters wont be as built up/the plot wont make sense, so I have to. Therefore, I've decided to just simply give up on limiting how many words I'm putting in each chapter, and I'm just going to go at it. I will pledge to myself, however, to make each chapter at the very least 5000 words, so I dont have any really short chapters.**

 **As always, dont feel afraid to review or comment, and enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: New and Old Friends**

* * *

"Hey Yang?" The young leader of team RWBY asked her older sister.

"Yeah Ruby?" She responded, putting her book down again.

"Can I talk to you about something real quick while we have a little time to ourselves?"

Yang jumped down from her bunk bed again. "Sure Rubes, what about?"

Ruby took a moment to gather herself. "It's about Steve…" she admitted, looking away nervously.

'Oh shit' Yang thought to herself. 'If this is about what I think it's about, then there could be a huge problem. But how do I tell Ruby about the picture?! If it meant what I thought it meant, then that means he's taken, and if Ruby asked him out then her heart would be broken for reasons completely beyond their control!'

Yang immediately recomposed herself, otherwise alerting Ruby that there could be something wrong should she be getting at something in particular that Yang thought she was.

"Uuuh… what about him? Yang finished in her usual cheery and supportive voice. She put her arm around Ruby's shoulder, bringing her close in a supportive one-armed hug.

Ruby shied her eyes away from Yang.

"Come on, Ruby. What's the matter?" Yang asked in a concerned voice.

Ruby took a moment to figure out how she was going to put what was on her mind. "Well… It's not really _just_ about Steven, actually."

"Well, then who is it about?"

"I… I think I have feelings for Ren, Jaune and Steven, but I can't figure out if they're real or not. I mean, Jaune's awesome! He was my first friend I met at Beacon! He's funny, clumsy, and a dork, but he always has good intentions and makes sure everyone is okay, is a real gentleman, and has been standing up for us lately. Then Ren, although untalkative and kinda mysterious, he's really nice and wise and a really good fighter! He also cooks really well, and his heart is always in the right place! But then there's Steve, who is really nice to everyone, and isn't afraid to stand up to those who would harm others. Not only that, but he's also a huge gentleman. He paid for my lunch today! Plus he likes weapons a lot just like me and we're both really energetic and he's _super_ friendly to me and we always have so much fun together! On top of that, he's a really good fighter and he's really smart, and kind and sweet and thoughtful and caring and…" She explained, but she couldn't go on any further. The conflicting emotions in her were too much to handle.

Ruby began to tear up, and Yang hugged her closely.

"My baby sister is growing up so fast." She said, a tear of happiness appearing in her eye.

" _Yaaang!_ " Ruby whined. "This is _serious_!"

"Sorry." Yang said apologetically.

"What should I do?" Ruby asked, hopeful that Yang could possibly help her in this situation.

"Well…" Yang began, holding Ruby by the shoulders at arm's length, ready to go into 'Maximum over-Big-Sister-drive'. "It sounds to me like you're a bit more interested in Steven than Jaune or Ren." Ruby shied away again. Yang crouched down so she was at eye level to Ruby, and took her chin in her hand to force her to look Yang in the eyes. "Ruby, these feelings you're feeling are completely normal. It means you're growing up! But as a result to the onset of these suddenly new feelings, people often make mistakes in their judgment. Both Girls _and_ guys do it. Now, that doesn't mean that you're wrong to think what you are thinking, and that also doesn't mean that your instincts or thoughts or judgments are wrong either. You may be completely right about being into Steven. But at this point in your life, you _need_ to think your feelings through to make sure you're completely confident in the way you feel about someone. This especially applies to Steven. He came to Remnant just a few months ago, and he is still trying to adjust to this new life. That, and we don't know if he may have… 'left someone behind'… if you catch my drift." Yang said, thinking about what Steven showed her earlier, but not making it obvious. Ruby nodded, understanding her sister entirely.

Yang didn't want to discourage her sister, but she couldn't let her go right after him now, especially with how he reacted to Yang's accidental overprotectiveness earlier. He needed time, how long was anyone's guess, and she saw that. So, she put her sister to making sure that she was absolutely certain about her feelings for anyone.

"I know what you mean Yang. I kinda asked him a really personal question about that earlier after lunch because I was worried about how he acted when he was around us when we started to talk about boys or love or anything of the nature. Ren just goes into his meditation or whatever sometimes, or contributes a little, and Jaune is more than happy to be there for… obvious reasons… but Steven shied away quickly and it worried me, and I asked him about it and that's how I found out he left someone at home." Ruby explained.

Yang sighed for a few moments before continuing. "What was her name?" She asked with a sympathetic expression for Steven.

"He told me her name was Jenny." Ruby answered.

Yang looked away and at the ground, her expression showed concern.

"What's wrong Yang?"

"I have reason to believe that the picture he thrust into my face earlier was of the two together." Yang answered her sister. She then returned her eyes to Ruby's. "I wouldn't ask Steven about it though, otherwise he probably would've shown you already, and he didn't seem like he exactly wanted to show it to me earlier."

Ruby nodded in agreement.

"So…" Yang continued. "for now, just wait and make sure your feelings are true. Steven's going through a lot right now, and I know he thinks of you as a huge friend with the way the two of you act with each other… but I'm unsure of how he would react if you asked him to be more than that. So for now, you should just wait for him to get past his predicament. When he's all set and whatnot, then you can ask him about it if you feel like you should." Yang finished with a smile, trying to get her younger sister to cheer up a bit.

Ruby smiled back, not quite cheered up all the way, as she wasn't exactly happy with the answer, but she had to accept it. What other choice did she have? For now, she'd have to take her sister's advice; wait and think.

Ruby hugged her sister, which she returned.

"Thank you Yang."

"Of course, Ruby. What are big sisters for?"

At that moment, Weiss opened the door to the bathroom, showing she was wearing her blue nightgown and her hair was down, ready to go to bed. She saw the two sisters having a moment, and immediately apologized.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't know you two were having a moment. I'll just close th-" She began frantically.

"Don't worry Weiss." Yang reassured her, the two sisters breaking from their hug. "It's all good."

Weiss sighed in relief. Blake soon came into the room, ready for bed as well. After the four said their good nights to each other, they went to bed.

* * *

The next morning, Steven woke up well-rested, and rather happily. The night before, he had finished his little project, and all it needed was some customizing. He decided it would wait though, as it was breakfast time in the cafeteria, and Steven was pretty hungry. He put on some clothes, figuring his friends were already there judging by the time. He'd just take a shower later. He went down to the cafeteria, and was delighted to see that they were serving the usual bacon and eggs, and this time they had some ham, which was _awesome_!

Steven grabbed several large slices of ham and put them on his tray before he walked over to the table everyone usually sat at.

* * *

"Mornin' everyone." He greeted them.

"Good morning." They all returned.

Steven sat down to Jaune's right again, and began eating his breakfast.

Soon, Ruby broke the silence at the table.

"So, what's everyone up to today?"

"Jaune and I were going to continue training today." Pyrrha answered, prompting a happy and tortured expression on Jaune's face, and a nervous laugh, but he was happy to do it nonetheless. It was his request of Pyrrha after all.

"Ren and I were going to work on our project for Professor Peach's class today, y'know, get it out of the way early." Nora said.

"We're starting it know knowing we won't make much progress, and saving ourselves, mostly me, from scrambling later on." Ren corrected her.

"What about you guys?" Pyrrha asked team RWBY.

"Team training!" Yang said enthusiastically, slamming her fists together in excitement with a look that matched on her face.

"What about you Steven?" Pyrrha asked.

Steven put his left index finger up, telling them to wait a moment, as he took another bite of the delicious, savory flavor of the juicy ham, letting out a small sigh of pleasure.

"Wow there, cowboy." Yang said mischievously.

Steven smirked. "Sorry, I _love_ ham… if you couldn't tell." He chuckled. "Anyways… I planned on working on a project of my own today, so I'll probably be in my room for most of the day." He said, answering Pyrrha's question.

" _Oooooooh_ , what _kind_ of project?" Nora inquired, interested.

"You'll have to wait and see." Steven said.

"Keeping secrets now, are we?" Weiss asked suspiciously.

"If it means giving me an edge, then yep. What exactly it will give me an edge to, I'll leave to your _wild_ imaginations." Steven asked, hoping to throw a few crazy ideas into anyone's head for fun. He could tell his plan half worked. Blake sat up rather straight with a blank expression, while Weiss looked to the ceiling for answers, stroking her chin. Ruby and Yang giggled at their teammates reactions.

Steven ate another bite of his precious ham, which ended in him getting a few more looks once more. He just simply adopted an expression that said 'Don't look at me like that.' in defense.

* * *

As they all walked back to their rooms to get ready for their tasks that day, team RWBY made sure to tell everyone they would be on the practice fields if they were needed. Ren and Nora said they would either be in the library or their room for the time, and Pyrrha and Jaune would either be on the roof, their preferred training spot, or on the practice fields themselves. Steven told them he'd be in his room all day, unless he finished early, where he would then go to the practice fields to brush up on his skills. He also told them he'd leave his room's door open in case anyone needed him for something, as usual.

Everyone went their separate ways to do their own tasks for the day. Before Steven continued with his own project, he needed to take a shower first. Once he was done, he changed into some comfortable clothes, some nice jeans and a red and white plaid long-sleeved flannel shirt.

Sitting down at his desk with his weapon still there in its handgun form, he saw it was very dull in color, and the metal showed many impurities on the outside from all of the shaping Steven had done to it. Steven also looked at the leather he bought and remembered he still needed to make a holster for the weapon that would easily fit off his belt or hip, depending on how he decided to keep it. He decided that he would probably have it on his left at least. Luckily he was rather ambidextrous, not completely, but enough that he'd easily be able to learn to shoot the weapon with his left hand. Steven decided that he could make the holster after he polished and painted the weapon as it was drying, making an effective use of his time.

Steven began to polish the exposed steel of the weapon, both the insides and out, as well as putting on some more fine touches within the weapons details, such as making the grips on the sides of the slide better, and such things as that. It took him about an hour until the whole weapon was glowing in a chrome glow, much like a classic Desert Eagle. The blade of the weapon was polished, and the splitting end of it was sharpened, making it glow similarly to the weapon, which easily complemented it. Now for the personal touches. First of which, was the night iron sights on the gun with two green dots on the rear one, and one green dot in the center of the front sight. Next, he carved an intricate design into the side of the axe blade, which he mirrored on the other side and painted the lines with black to make them stand out. Next he painted the trigger as well as the safety switch on the side of the slide black to contrast with the chrome silver. To further this process, he painted the mag release and the magazine itself black to match.

Steven left the paint to dry, now deciding to work on his holster. It was going to be a big one, and an awkward one, as the handgun was not only large to begin with, but it also now had a huge axe blade on it. Not only this, but Steven wasn't really adept in leather crafting, and had been watching countless videos on how to do it the past couple weeks before bed. Hoping that it actually would help him, Steven began preparing the black leather, and stretching it out. Once he prepared the many pieces of leather he purchased, he began to lay out what it would look like before starting to stitch the main components together. Steven had a general idea in his mind of how the holster would work, and how it would look as well. The way he wanted it to be, was in such a way that it wouldn't let the gun fall out of it, but it wouldn't take a lot of effort to remove it from the holster when he needed to use it. For the next couple hours, Steven worked on his holster, sowing, stitching, and adhering it into the shape he desired. He shaved off any excess leather, and adjusted the shape slightly every so often to get some kinks out of the shape to maintain symmetry.

When it was done, the holster was rather large and bulky, yet at the same time compact. It was deep enough to fit the whole weapon and blade into it, leaving the grip and the back of the slide exposed to it could be gripped and pulled out with ease. There was a special part of the holster that was shaped near the furthest out point on the axe blade, which allowed the weapon easy entry into the holster, but kept it in there until it was pulled backwards at the grip before being pulled up and out of the holster. And if any of it was to fail, or if it was to get stuck in there, the holster could be opened up so it could just be taken out that way.

Steven tried it on his belt. 'Not too shabby' he thought. For its large size and awkward shape, it didn't get in the way of his left hand, it didn't sway when he walked around, and it didn't become awkward when sitting. Steven was proud of himself that he could craft something that could be so efficient and useful for its necessary size from very limited knowledge of the craft.

There was just one final thing he needed to do to make sure the holster was built the way he hoped. Seeing that the paint and polish on his gun had had enough time to dry, Steven picked up the Desert Eagle/War Axe and holstered it. Walking around with it, sitting, and standing, it didn't feel very awkward at all, not to the point it would be hard to get used to anyways. He then tried to take the gun out improperly, making sure his features worked as intended, keeping the weapon inside, which they did. He then tried to take it out the proper way he designed the holster to allow, and got it out with no trouble or resistance the first try.

Satisfied with his work, Steven decided that there was only one thing left for him to do. Steven took off the holster and placed it on his desk and closed his door so he could change into his combat gear. Steven made space on his belt for the holster and put it on the left side. The beautiful part of the design of the holster was that it hung off the belt over his left thigh, but with the comfort of not having to strap it to your leg. And the fact that he reinforced the area made it so it was stiff and didn't flop around.

Steven smiled in satisfaction at the new addition to his arsenal. He just hoped it worked as well as he envisioned. Before leaving the room to head to the practice fields to test his weapon on the range, Steven filled the magazines for his Desert Eagle with the .50 AE rounds he bought the day before, and filled the magazines for his M4 with alternating bullets, going in the pattern of one armor piercing round, one high explosive round, and one incendiary round in that order. Hopefully, this would act to create an opening in armor, or a wound, and the HE would expand it and worsen it, while the incendiary would make it unbearable for the victim. This way he could also see how it worked when he alternated bullets versus when he used only one type at a time. Once he finished filling his magazines and put them in their respective places, he put his assault rifle on his back, and his handgun in its giant holster, and left his room, locking the door behind him, before heading to the practice fields.

* * *

Once he stepped outside, his left eye was practically blinded from the shine and glare the sun created on the freshly polished weapon, causing Steven to keep his hand on it his entire way to the range. He'd need to find a way to fix that problem if he wanted to keep his Desert Eagle chrome.

Steven walked across the courtyard towards the practice areas, and through the arenas to get to the range. It had only been about four or five hours since they got back from breakfast, so team RWBY was probably still training, and Jaune and Pyrrha were probably doing the same, wherever the two might be. At the thought, Steven looked up towards the roof of the dorm at the spot they trained at, and saw they weren't there. He didn't pass them on the way out, so he assumed either he missed them as they passed him when he left the main entrance, or they were training in the arenas today.

As Steven walked through the various arenas, he could hear the unmistakable sound of shotgun shells and yelling, as Yang was undoubtedly unhappy and was using her semblance. Not only that, but he could hear several metal clangs and pangs as bullets were deflected and blows were exchanged. Steven's curiosity got the best of him, so he walked in the doorway to team RWBY's training area, and leaned on the inside of the doorframe, and watched the remainder of their training battle.

* * *

Yang was charging forward with her semblance active towards Weiss, who was conjuring her glyphs around herself defensively. Blake and Ruby were locked in a battle with their bladed weapons, both very agile and quick with the use of their blades, neither of them able to gain the upper hand. Ruby soon realized this, and forced herself away from her opponent by firing her scythe into Blake, who dodged the bullet, but allowed Ruby to gain some space to think. Ruby looked around to gather what was happening. Blake was waiting for Ruby's move, while Weiss' glyphs were constantly being shattered and replaced, and it was noticeably draining her. Ruby had to get Yang off of Weiss if they had a chance to pull this one back. Ruby looked at Blake to clearly see that she was waiting to see what Ruby was going to do so she could counter it. There were very few options available to Ruby, but she had to try to take the pressure off of Weiss.

Ruby turned her sniper-scythe towards Blake, as if she was about to shoot her. She pulled the bolt back to chamber the next round, and pushed it back in, causing Blake to get into a stance to dodge it. Ruby faked Blake by turning it to Blake's right, as if she was falsely anticipating her moving that way, causing her to dodge to her left. This gave Ruby time to quickly turn the rifle onto Yang and fire off a few rounds at her back.

Her plan worked as Yang was caught off guard from her tunnel-visioning on Weiss, who was now taking the opportunity to grab the upper hand. Ruby turned back around to Blake charging at her, and turned Blake's tactic against her, keeping her delayed, making sure Blake doesn't gain the upper hand while Ruby simply blocked her.

Weiss spun her dust cylinder on Myrtenaster to the blue ice dust, and aimed her sword at a stumbling Yang. The blade lit up from the hilt to the tip as it let out a burst of energy from the end, causing three separate streaks of energy to soar through the short distance between the two opponents. The three streaks hit yang in the feet, and one on her waist, rendering her completely immobile from the waist down as long as she was frozen in the ice the dust created around her. Weiss then spun her dust cylinder to the white dust, and allowed it to flow through the blade before she charged forward, placing glyphs around and above Yang. With the increased power from the dust, Weiss' sword is able to deal tremendous damage at lightning speeds. Weiss struck Yang with her first blow, then used her glyphs, hopping off of one to the other, striking her each time as she was on the way to the next, using the previous one to propel her. When Weiss finished with the glyphs around her, she jumped up towards the one above Yang, and connected her feet with it before pushing off of it towards her opponent with lightning speeds, creating a large explosion at the point of contact.

The buzzer sounded, signaling Yang's elimination from the tournament style match. Upon hearing it, Yang punched the ground in frustration before walking off to the side and cooling down.

Now it was two on one, Weiss and Ruby against Blake. Blake knew her odds were not very good, considering Ruby was able to hold her in place while Weiss came at her and attacked her. Even while using her semblance to shadow-step and protect herself from Weiss' blows, she wasn't able to do it against two attackers at once in such close proximity, which her attackers knew. Seeing no good way out of her current situation, Blake decided to shadow-step upwards next, that way she could get away and think of a better approach. Weiss anticipated this, and as Blake jumped up, Weiss placed a glyph above her. Blake's head hit he glyph hard, knocking her down on her back. Ruby took the opportunity and hit the blunt end of her scythe into Blake's abdomen to finish her off.

The sound of the buzzer once more signified an elimination, this time Blake, and also the end of the match, and therefore the victory of Weiss and Ruby.

"Oooooh yeah! Gimme five sista!" Ruby said as she raised her hand to Weiss, who scoffed and rolled her eyes before smiling lightly and reluctantly returned her gesture.

Weiss and Ruby helped Blake up off the ground as she grasped her stomach, and Yang waltzed over, now calmed down.

"Could you please not hit me in the stomach again like that?" She grumbled.

Everyone finally noticed Steven's applause from across the arena, still leaning against the door.

"Oh, hey Steve!" Ruby called over waving. "How long have you been there?"

"Just a few minutes. I only caught the tail end of the fight. But I'm impressed regardless." He said as he began to walk closer to them so they didn't have to shout across the room. "I can't wait to have a team of my own so I can take all of you on at once to be quite honest."

"Why don't you try and take us on right now? You look ready, we can take ya!" Yang tried to convince him, hopping around in a fighting stance.

"Nah, I'd lose in a four on one, even _with_ my semblance. Maybe a _two_ on one, but certainly not a four on one, I know when a battle cannot be won." He politely declined. "But that will have to wait until later regardless, as all of your auras are drained to an extent." He pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. That would make it hard to fight, now wouldn't it?" Blake said, glaring jokingly at her hot-headed and battle-ready partner, who just smiled and shrugged.

"So what were you doing around here to begin with?" Weiss asked with genuine curiosity.

"I was just passing through, making my way towards the firing range when I heard your battle and figured 'why not'." He explained.

Steven now stood a couple of feet in front of the team, allowing Ruby to notice the large holster on Steven's left thigh, causing her eyes to expand in fascination and anticipation.

"I take it you've noticed my 'project', Ruby?" He said.

Ruby nodded, her gaze not changing from the object as she looked at it with curiosity. "…What is it?

Steven took it out of its holster, revealing a very large handgun with a hooked war axe blade on the end of the barrel, much like the daggers on Ren's StormFlowers.

"It's a high caliber hand-cannon that turns into a war axe." He responded, giving Ruby excited giggles.

"It's a what?" Weiss asked, not understanding completely.

"It's an axe that is also a gun." He simplified.

"Oh."

With a flip of the switch, Steven's Desert Eagle transformed into the War axe he designed with the pole being about 2 feet and the blade of the axe being hooked, allowing it to grab and hook onto things, or disarm opponents.

Steven twirled it around once in his left hand to show off a little, causing an " _Oooh_!" and an " _Aaah_ " from Ruby.

Steven chuckled at her behavior. It was cute and hilarious. Steven threw the bottom of the handle forward with enough momentum to catch it by the blade as it did a 180 in the air as he offered it to Ruby who clearly wanted to check it out.

Ruby eagerly took it and proceeded to play with it, safely of course.

As Ruby played around with it, making ninja noises as she swiped it around, Yang asked him about it.

"So that's the project you've been working on?"

"Yup. That and the holster." He answered.

"I though you already had a weapon?" Blake questioned him.

"I do, and I plan on using it still." He explained. "That's for some… special… situations, I guess you could say. I won't go into detail, as it will take away the edge it currently gives me."

Weiss placed her hand on her chin trying to think of what it could be. She liked knowing her opponents inside and out so she could have every advantage she could on the battlefield.

Ruby had since switched it back to a handgun, and was playing around with the safety.

"Ruby, be careful! It's got a full magazine in it." He warned her.

This made her stop and think 'Oh crud.' and stop fooling around with it.

"How do you operate it?" she asked.

Steven put up his right arm with his palm open, signaling Ruby to throw it to him. She complied, and threw it in an underhand toss, which Steven easily caught in mid-air, twirling it around his fingers until it was oriented correctly.

He then demonstrated the functions of the weapon. He flipped the safety on, signaling that it is just that. "This black button here is the mag release" he said as he pressed it and the 7 round magazine with .50 AE fell to the floor, which he bent over and picked up, and placed back in the gun. "You pull back the slide to chamber a round," Which he did, but without the magazine all the way in, so it didn't actually chamber one. "The barrel and the slide are independent from each other, rather than the slide going over the barrel, which makes it unique." He explained. He pulled the slide back all the way, holding it in place with the slide lock on the side, showing that the barrel stayed in place while the slide moved back. He then flipped the slide lock down, making a distinct 'click' as the slide went back into place. "And so far, the only flaw I see with it is that it is too shiny, ironically."

"Why do you say that?" Yang asked.

"I nearly blinded myself when I got outside when the sun reflected off the chrome into my left eye, so I had to cover it with my hand until I got indoors." He admitted with a shrug as Yang chuckled. "That, and the only other flaws I can think of would be that it will probably be _really_ loud, and have a _lot_ of recoil, but it's nothing I didn't expect when I chose the .50 AE cartridge instead of the .45 I could've chosen for my project."

A moment passed by before Steven admitted "Ok, all of this talking about it makes me _really_ want to shoot it!" He said with the figurative ants in his pants.

"Ooh! Can I come!" Ruby bounced with excitement.

"Sure! Why not? Anyone else want to tag along?" He offered.

"I'll come as well, why not?" Yang said.

"I'm all set, thanks. I need to go take a shower after that fight and grab something to eat." Weiss politely declined.

"I'm just really hungry." Blake admitted.

"That's cool, I understand." Steven said.

"We'll catch up with you guys later, k?" Yang said as the three began to walk towards the firing range.

* * *

On the short walk there Ruby was giddy with excitement, further showcasing how much she enjoyed weapons in general.

When they arrived at the range, people were busy testing their own weapons as usual, firing a variety of types and styles of weapons ranging from pistols to light machineguns, and from bows and crossbows to rocket launchers and grenade launchers.

Steven stepped up to an empty space in the firing range, with Yang and especially Ruby not far behind him to watch, and put some of his magazines on the table. Steven then unholstered his sidearm, and locked the slide open with the slide lock. He then placed one of the magazines into the weapon, and made sure nothing was amiss in the mechanism with the introduction of a bullet, before flipping the slide lock, releasing the slide. Next, Steven got into a ready firing stance, bringing the gun up in his left hand, with the right hand on the grip for stability. He straightened his arms, but made sure he didn't lock them to avoid damage to them from the recoil. He switched off the safety on the weapon, and was about to pull the trigger when he bent his elbows upwards, pointing the gun in the air.

Steven looked over his shoulder to his two friends before warning them, "You may want to block your ears in case this is _really_ loud."

Ruby and Yang took his advice, and covered their ears with their hands. They may not always be able to do this, but the ringing of the noise of the weapon off of the ranges' walls would certainly make it louder than if it were shot outside.

With this, Steven turned back around and retrained the Desert Eagle on the target, aiming for the center of the Ursa-shaped target. He eased his breathing, and steadied his body to take the first shot. 'Please don't explode' he thought again, as if this one were to detonate, he'd be in serious trouble. Steven squeezed the trigger easily.

 **BANG!**

Steven's hands went up a couple inches from the recoil he didn't quite expect, as the gun shot up from the recoil, but was brought back down by his arms. He then had to block his ear with his right hand, as it was ringing a bit. Ruby and Yang bent over in pain a little from the loud noise as well.

"I guess it works well!" He shouted without realizing it while his ears were still recovering.

Ruby and Yang giggled, and Steven chuckled as their hearing slowly returned to them.

"You _might_ need to work on the release of the gasses a bit though." Ruby suggested. "That way the recoil won't be as bad, and it won't be so loud."

"Good thinking. I'll work on that." Steven replied. "I'll probably refrain from continuing seeing as I'll just be hurting my ears for the time being." He said as he recovered his weapon and ejected the magazine, and pulled back the slide to remove the bullet in the mechanism.

"Hey Steve, what kind of dust rounds did you load into that gun again?" Yang asked

"Normal .50 AE rounds, why?" He asked.

"You sure you didn't accidentally use high explosive?" she further inquired.

"I'm positive." He reaffirmed. "Why?"

"Look at the target." She told him.

Steven looked over to the plywood target to see that a large chunk of the wood where he shot it was gone, leaving a gaping hole in the target.

"Well that explains the recoil." Ruby said as she giggled.

"Yyyyyep." Steven agreed.

Steven then holstered his literal hand cannon, and took out his assault rifle. "It's a good thing I brought something else to play with." He smiled as he held it proudly in his arms. "You guys should check this out, you may find it helpful yourselves if you already haven't tried it." He explained, showing the contents of one of his magazines. "I believe that alternating different types of rounds in a magazine could make certain tasks and enemies easier to take down depending on the way you alternate the ammo. Right now, I've got armor piercing first, with high explosive second, and incendiary third. The intended purpose is to pierce the armor of a Grimm, then expand upon the wound and cause internal damage, then inflict even more damage."

Steven then pressed a button on the table that controlled the targets, and pressed the button that requested an armored target. "And I hope it works." He added. He then put a magazine in the weapon and pressed the bolt catch on the side, and switched the weapon to semi-auto.

Steven fired three shots into the target with some space between them before lowering the weapon to inspect the target. Sure enough, the armor piercing round made a good hole that went into the armor, which the high explosive round capitalized on and made bigger, while the incendiary round dealt even more damage.

"Worked as intended." He said gleefully.

Yang and Ruby took a mental note of it before excusing themselves to go get something to eat and rest up for classes tomorrow. Steven played around with his weapons for a while longer before heading back to his dorm to relax for the rest of the day.

* * *

 **(A/N): Sorry for the huge timelapse! without it, the plot would progress at a snails pace!**

* * *

As a few weeks passed, everyone was doing great. Classes went on as normal, and they all learned new knowledge, obtained better skills, and trained hard to hone them. Jaune was certainly an example of this. His physique had improved immensely, and his skills had improved significantly thanks to Pyrrha's training, but he still had a ways to go before he was at his friend's level, but he'd surely get there in time.

Classes were great, and as they neared the end of the semester, things were finally getting interesting as they got into the more advanced material now that they were out of the introductory stuff. Of course, with the end of the semester also came an increased workload, which was expected, but still sucked. Projects were given left and right, leaving little room to train or practice outside of combat class.

The end of the semester also signified a larger, more positive thing as well. The Vytal Festival was taking place during the second semester, which would start two weeks after the end of the first, giving the students a couple of weeks off from school. This meant that students from the other kingdoms would be arriving soon to get settled in before the second semester began. The students from the other kingdoms would then join the students from Beacon and attend their classes with them, and train and practice with them, socialized, the whole package so to speak.

Two weeks before the end of the semester, the students were given a long weekend, giving them the Friday off as well as the two days of the weekend, and were encouraged to meet and welcome the exchange students to the kingdom.

Weiss had convinced her teammates to do just that, but she also had her own reasoning behind wanting to meet these students. Weiss always strived to be the best fighter she could be, and tried to learn as much about her potential opponents as she could. Thus, her real motivation for going down into the city was simply to check out the competition. The team had already decided to participate in the tournament, so it made it all the more reasonable to Weiss.

Steven tagged along with them, as he wanted to see what the Festival was becoming as much as he could to take it in. He couldn't participate in the tournament, as he didn't have a team, but he still wanted to partake in the festivities. Team RWBY allowed him to come, as team JNPR was busy working on projects, and Steven had finished his early, so he had nothing to do.

* * *

As they walked down the streets of Vale, balloons of all sorts of colors and lines with banners were draped across the streets on the buildings, welcoming all newcomers and preparing the city for the festivities. Signs were hung above streets, many with welcoming messages to those who live outside of Vale, from tourists here for the celebration to students from other kingdoms.

The five friends and teammates were stopped as Weiss took a moment to gaze upon a specific sign that read "Welcome to Vale!" over the street.

"The Vytal Festival!" She began with excitement. "Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss." Ruby began before shifting around a bit. "It's kinda weirding me out…"

Weiss turned around to face her partner. "How could you _not_ smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of organization and planning that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" she said as she turned back around with a twirl, continuing on. Everyone else followed her.

Yang sighed and crossed her arms. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet you!" Weiss scowled.

The five then walked down the street to the railing that prevented people from falling into the harbor. Steven walked up to it and got a good whiff of the salty air. He missed the smell of the ocean, which he often smelled back in Boston, and he loved the smell. The horns of ships sounded off every now and then as several civilian ships made their way into port.

"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang said unimpressed.

Ruby pinched her nose. "Ugh, it smells like fish…"

"Well this is the ocean, and fish live in the ocean after all." Steven teased her. Ruby just glared at him, still pinching her nose.

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today." Weiss explained as their reasoning for visiting the docks. Weiss then turned to her friends, "And as a representative of Beacon I feel it is my _solemn_ duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom." She finished as she turned back around and kept walking along the railing.

"She wants to spy on them so she can get the upper hand in the tournament." Blake said to the rest.

Weiss stopped and scoffed before crossing her arms and facing Blake. "You can't prove that."

Ruby wasn't paying attention, instead her eyes were focused on something at the end of the adjacent street. "Wow…" She said getting everyone's attention.

Down the street was a dust shop with broken windows and a broken down door with police tape around the area, with several detectives working on the scene.

"Let's go see what's going on." Steven suggested.

The five of them walked down the street to the edge of the police tape. Ruby addressed the nearest detective, who was writing in his tablet with a stylus. The detectives wore white suit shirts with black ties. They wore dark blue pants, and had overalls on them.

"What happened here?" Ruby asked one of the detectives, who was wearing dark sunglasses and had a clean, thick brown beard that went from ear to ear, and above and below his mouth, and a clean haircut that was greased down.

"Robbery." He said in a light Boston accent, barely looking up from his tablet. "Second dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turnin' into a jungle." He said as he turned around and walked over to the broken window where his partner stood.

"Ugh, that's terrible." Yang said on the side.

" _They left all the money again_!" The second detective said with an annoyed tone to his partner as he held his overalls to rest his hands in front of him. The second detective wore sunglasses as well, and had messy dark gray hair, but was about the same age as the other one.

The bearded detective shifted his tablet into a large pistol, his side arm, and folded his arms, holding the gun in his right hand casually. "Ehh, it just doesn't make a lick a' sense… Who needs that much dust?" he said, keeping his left arm folded, and his right arm was extended in a way to complement his question using body language, only his gun was in his hand, and pointed at his partner, who didn't seem to care oddly, as if it was a common thing.

"I dunno, y'know what-I-mean?" He said with little space between his words.

The bearded one began waving his firearm around nonchalantly. "You thinkin' the uhh…White Fang?" he said, putting his left hand on his hip and his right arm at his side.

"Yeah, I'm thinkin' we don't get paid enough." The second one said, taking of his sunglasses.

Weiss made a hum that shows she was unimpressed. "The White Fang… what an _awful_ bunch of degenerates." She said crossing her arms.

"What's _your_ problem?" Blake asked with a bit of attitude.

" _My_ problem?" Weiss said as she turned to her teammate. "I simply don't care for the criminally insane." She stated.

"The White Fang is _hardly_ a bunch of psychopaths" She began, crossing her arms. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus." She explained.

" _Misguided_? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're _very_ misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale." Blake explained her point.

"Hmm…" Ruby hummed. "Blake's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago… _maybe_ it was him."

" _That_ still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." Weiss quickly returned to the subject, rather unnecessarily too.

'This could get ugly' Steven thought to himself as Blake looked at Weiss with a very unhappy expression.

"Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal!" Weiss continued.

"That's not _necessarily_ true." Yang defended.

Before anyone could continue the conversation, they were interrupted as someone shouted "Hey! Stop that Faunus!" from the docks. The five students ran over to the docks to get a look at the scene. A tan boy in a white shirt, unbuttoned shirt that showed his toned body, and jeans with blond spiky hair, red bracers with black fingerless gloves and black and yellow sneakers ran down the deck of the ship, and jumped onto the edge of the railing.

"Thanks for the ride guys!" he said to the two pursuing sailors, laughing before he jumped off the ship and onto the dock, continuing his run.

"You no good stowaway!" one of the sailors shouted.

The boy jumped up and dangled off of a lamp post, revealing he was a monkey Faunus, dangling off the post with his blond tail upside down, peeling a banana. "Hey! A no good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a _great_ stowaway!" he taunted.

The two detectives had made it down to the docks, and one of them threw a rock at his head to get his attention, which the Faunus dodged.

The bearded detective called up to him. "Hey! Get down from theah this instant!" The boy threw his banana peel at the detectives face, causing the detective to growl in anger.

The Faunus boy jumped on top of his lamp post laughing before he jumped over and behind the two detectives, running up the stairs to the street with the two detectives closely behind. He ran onto the side walk, right past the RWBY team and Steven, winking at Blake on his way by.

"Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and _there_ it goes." said Yang.

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss shouted.

Steven shook his head before running after the rest of team RWBY, except for Blake, who stood there for a second, thinking about what just happened, before returning her attention to the real world and running after them to catch up.

The detectives and team RWBY chased the monkey Faunus down the street, around the corner, and then down another street. He rounded another corner, and Weiss was hot on his trail.

As Weiss rounded the same corner, she came to an abrupt stop as she hit an object she did not expect to be there, or rather a person. The two fell over, Weiss on top of the mystery person.

The rest of team RWBY and Steven rounded the corner to see what had happened.

Weiss raised her head up to see the Faunus boy getting away, running down the street before jumping to the side onto a short building.

"No! He got away!" yelled Weiss, who was still unaware of her situation.

"Uuuuhhh. Weiss…" Yang said, catching her attention and pointing to the person who she fell on.

Weiss turned around to see a redheaded girl smiling creepily at her. Weiss made a startled/creeped out noise before quickly getting up and stepping back a few paces.

"Sal-u-tations!" said the girl on the ground, who was still lying there as if she had no idea what happened. The girl on the ground has short, rather curly orange hair that comes down to her chin, and she has a pink bow on the back of her head. She also has bright green eyes, light skin and freckles. She wears an old-fashioned blouse with short feminine overalls, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings.

The five friends looked a little creeped out at her enthusiasm and strangeness, Weiss more so than the others.

"Um… hello." Ruby said.

"Are you… okay?" Yang asked.

"I'm _wonderful_! Thank you for asking!" the girl on the ground said with zero sarcasm, and a hundred percent sincerity.

'Ok… there is something _seriously_ off about this girl…" Steven, and a couple others undoubtedly thought.

The five of them looked at each other with dumbfounded and concerned looks at how this girl was acting.

"Do you… _want to get up_?" Yang asked cautiously.

The girl on the ground took a moment before answering for whatever reason. "Yes!"

She then brought her legs up near her chest before she pushed them quickly, giving her enough momentum to jump up with the force, and land on her feet standing up. Everyone took a step back in unison at the strange gesture.

"My name is Penny, it's a pleasure to meet you!" the red haired girl said.

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Steve."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" said Yang, who was reminded of what she was supposed to say when Blake bumped her elbow into her side. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny repeated in the exact same way she said it not long ago.

Weiss picked up on this. "You already said that."

Penny paused for a moment. "… So I did!"

"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss said, giving the five of them an opportunity to leave this awkward situation as they turned around and began walking away.

"Take care friend!" Ruby said with a friendly wave before turning around herself. Penny's eyes widened.

* * *

The five continued down the street they ran down earlier, walking this time though.

"She was… _weird_ …" Yang put lightly.

"Now, where did that Faunus riffraff run off to?" Weiss said, talking about the money Faunus boy from earlier. She was suddenly stopped when she looked in front of her, causing her to recoil backwards a little. Penny somehow got around them and was standing in front of the group.

"What did you call me?" she asked, staring blankly into Weiss.

Weiss looked back and forth between Penny and where she was not a minute ago rapidly, pointing in the direction they came from, with the expression of 'how did you…' each time.

"I'm really sorry! I definitely didn't think you heard me." Yang apologized, thinking Penny was referring to when she called her weird.

"No, not you." Penny said to Yang before she walked over to Ruby. Penny stopped directly in front of Ruby and leaned into her rather closely, causing Ruby to lean back away from her. " _You_."

"Me?!" asked Ruby in surprise. "I-I-I don't know I-what I-um ah…"

"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?!" asked Penny, leaning even closer to Ruby, causing her to lean back further herself.

"Uuummm…" Ruby said, sliding to the side to ask her teammates to help her out with this.

Yang made an 'X' with her arms, and shook her head no while Weiss made a cutting motion with her right hand in front of her throat, frantically shaking her head no, and Blake was shaking her head no, bringing her arms close together before pushing them out repeatedly. Steven stood there and shrugged with an expression that read 'I mean… why not?'.

Ruby shifted back under Penny's gaze, who hadn't shifted the entire time. "Y-yeah sure! Why not?"

Her three teammates stood in place as she said that, frozen with a look that says "What have you just done?!" before falling over. Steven looked at them like 'are you fucking serious right now guys?'

Penny finally moved again, leaning back and stepping back a step before pumping her arms in the air. "Sen- _sational_!" She said in victory. "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" Penny said excitedly.

Ruby leaned over to Weiss with a groan, who got up and brushed herself off, before speaking in a voice only she could hear. "Is this what it was like when you met me?"

Weiss leaned towards Ruby to do the same, "No, she seems _far_ more coordinated."

" _So…_ _what're_ you doing in Vale?" Yang asked Penny.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament!" She said matter-of-factly with pride.

"Wait, _you're_ fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked surprised.

Penny turned to her saying "I'm combat ready!" with a salute.

"Forgive me, but… you hardly look the part" Weiss continued.

"Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake countered from behind Penny.

Weiss crossed her arms. " _It's_ a combat skirt!" she said matter-of-factly, as if there was a clear distinction between the two.

Ruby slid up next to her partner in a flash with her arms crossed too. " _Yeah!_ " she said, defending her partner.

Weiss put out her left arm, palm facing up, as Ruby moved her right arm down to slap it, neither of them looking away from Blake.

"Wait a minute…" Weiss said, walking over to Penny, and putting her arms on her shoulders and pulling her a little closer slightly aggressively. "If _you're_ here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed… rapscallion?"

Blake grew furious at those words.

"The who?" Penny asked.

Weiss took out a piece of paper with a very crude and cartoony drawing of the Faunus that was drawn in no less than five seconds at some point. She showed it to Penny. "The filthy Faunus from the boat!" she said as if it was obvious.

"Why do you keep saying that?!" Blake interrupted angrily.

"Huh?!" said Weiss.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" Blake defended the Faunus.

"Oh, _I'm_ sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamp post as a lamp post?" Weiss responded as if there was a difference.

"Stop it!" said Blake.

"Stop what?" Weiss asked, unsure of why Blake was so upset. "He clearly broke the law! Give him time, he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang."

Blake clenched her fists by her side. "Ugh you ignorant little brat!" she shouted before turning around and walking away with frustrated sways of her hips.

"How _dare_ you talk to me like that?!" Weiss shouted back. " _I_ am your teammate!" She said as she walked over to Blake, who had now stopped, to continue the argument.

Ruby, Steven, and Yang huddled together almost, looking at what was happening in front of them.

" _You_ are a judgmental little _girl_!" Blake refuted.

"What in the world makes you say that?!"

"Uuuhh, _I think we should probably go…_ " Yang said.

"…before this gets worse…" Steven continued for her.

"Where are we going?" asked Penny with a smile, unaware of the situation.

"-solely based on his species makes you _just_ as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" Blake continued in the distance.

"So you admit it! The White Fang _is_ a radical group of terrorists!" Weiss refuted.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

* * *

The fighting continued all the way back to Beacon, into the night, and into team RWBY's dorm room without either party letting up or calming down. Steven stayed with Yang and Ruby to support them as a quarter of their team was against another quarter.

"I don't understand _why_ this is causing _such_ a problem!" Weiss continued.

"That _is_ the problem!"

Weiss stood up from her bed. "You realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure _evil_!"

Blake now stood up frustrated. "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you _think_ they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like _you_ that force the White Fang to take drastic measures!"

"People like _me_?!"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!" Weiss said, silencing Blake. "You want to know _why_ I despise the White Fang?" She said as she faced the open window between them in their dorm room. " _Why_ I don't _particularly_ trust the Faunus?" She continued. She set her hand on the bookshelf below the window, looking out into the night. "It's because they've been at war with my family for _years_. War, as in _actual bloodshed_. My Grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear… board members, executed… an entire _train car_ full of dust, stolen. And _every day_ , my father would come home _furious_ and that made for a _very difficult childhood_. She said as her hand on the bookshelf turned into a fist as she banged the top of it.

Ruby walked up to Weiss and put her hand on her shoulder to try to calm her down and end this fight. "Weiss… I-" She began.

"NO!" Weiss shouted, turning around and facing Blake again. She wasn't done yet. She walked back in front of Blake with her hands behind her back. "You want to know _why_ I despise the White Fang?" Weiss reiterated. "It's because they're a bunch of _liars_. _Thieves! And MURDERERS!"_

"WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!" Blake shouted at Weiss. She didn't immediately realize what she just said, but everyone else did. Weiss stepped back a little, an expression of shock and betrayal on her face. Everyone else just stared at Blake in shock, which alerted her to what she just shouted.

What she said implied two things: One, that she is a Faunus, and two, that she is a member of the White Fang.

Blake backed up towards her bed as if she was being cornered, even though no one moved a muscle. "I-I…" she began to say, but quickly bolted out of the door and into the hallway, not stopping.

"Blake! Wait!" Ruby called to her, running to the doorway but stopping just after it. "Come back!"

* * *

Blake kept running. She didn't stop. She ran down the hall, down the stairwell, and out into the courtyard. She didn't stop until she stood in front of the statue that was in front of Beacon Academy's entrance, a stone sculpture depicting two hunters, one male and one female, the female being a Faunus with the way her face was shaped, standing triumphantly over a large Beowulf they had just taken down together. Blake looked at it, tears swelling in her eyes. She slowly raised her arms up above her head, slowly pulling the knot behind her bow, until it was all undone. Taking the strand of ribbon in her hand, she pulled it back down like it brought her pain, like it was hiding who she really was.

That's because it was.

Where her bow once was were two black cat ears that matched the color of her raven black hair, with purple skin on the insides. Blake Belladonna is secretly a cat Faunus, and she hid it from the world under a simple black bow, afraid of how the world would think of her if she didn't hide it.

Blake's state was interrupted when a slightly familiar male voice talked to her from behind. "I knew you would look better without the bow." He said.

Blake turned around, and was surprised to see who it was.

* * *

Two days later, Ruby woke up in the morning to find that Blake still hadn't come back since she ran away. Her bed wasn't even so much as disturbed or wrinkled in the blanket, showing no one had been in it for a couple days.

The three remaining members of team RWBY went out to Vale to search for her again. Steven stayed behind, telling them that if and when they found Blake, he shouldn't be there when they do, or it won't mean nearly as much to her as it otherwise would. He told them that he was going into Vale anyways, and would tell them if he found her.

"She's been gone all weekend." Ruby said as she, her sister, and Weiss walked down the street searching for Blake.

"Blake's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself." Weiss said as if there wasn't much of a problem.

"Weiss, come _on_! She's one of our teammates!" Yang said.

"Is she?" Weiss countered. "We all heard what she said.

"Weiss!" Ruby said, annoyed.

"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way she's missing, and we need to find her." Yang said sternly.

"A member of the White Fang! Right underneath our noses!" Weiss continued.

"I just hope she's okay." Said Ruby.

* * *

Blake picked up her teacup and took a sip of her drink, sighing afterwards. She then looked up to the person she sat across from, the same Faunus boy from the ship, named Sun Wukong. His left hand was resting on his cheek, and his tail was holding his beverage by the handle in the air. He took a sip of his drink, but stopped halfway through, his mouth full of the beverage when Blake finally spoke.

"So…" She began, putting her teacup back down on its small dish. "You want to know more about me."

Sun swallowed his drink before he shot his hands up in the air. " _Finally, she speaks_!" he said, his teacup still being held by his tail. "Nearly two days, and y'givin me nothing but small talk and weird looks." Blake glared and frowned at him. "Yeah, like _that_."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Sun…" She began. "Are you familiar with the White Fang?"

"Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the _planet_ who hasn't heard of them. Stupid holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks if you ask me!"

Blake calmly sipped her tea without breaking eye contact. "I was… once a member of the White Fang." She calmly stated. She didn't want to get mad at someone else only to have a repeat of two nights ago.

Sun choked on his drink, covering his mouth as he went into a short coughing fit. "Wait a minute, _you_ were member of the White Fang?"

"That's right. I was a member for most of my life actually." Blake began. "You could almost say I was born into it. Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and the Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity _still_ thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally, I took part in every boycott, and I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist. Then, 5 years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place; a new leader with a new way of thinking. Suddenly our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks, we were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was that it was working. We were being treated like equals… but not out of respect… out of fear. So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead I would dedicate my life to becoming a huntress. So here I am; a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little, black bow." She finished, wiggling the ears underneath her bow a little.

Sun's demeanor had changed from the tale, one he certainly didn't expect. He was now more serious and calmed, not wanting to offend her or anything. "So…" He began. "Have you told your friends any of this?"

Blake's answer is yes, but not in the way she wanted to tell them, not at all.

* * *

" _Blaaaaaake_?!" Ruby called out into the streets.

" _Blaaaaaaake?_ " Yang mirrored.

" _Blaaaaaaake_? Where are yooooooou?!" Ruby called again.

" _Blake?!"_ Yang called again.

Ruby and Yang turned to Weiss, who was not helping them search for their teammate.

" _Weiss?_!" Ruby grumbled. "You're not _helping_!"

"Oh, you know who might be able to help?" The heiress began. "The police."

Ruby grumbled angrily at her. " _Uggh, Weiss…"_

"It was _just_ an idea!" She said with an expression that read 'what do you want from me?'

"Yeah, a bad one…" Ruby scowled as she continued walking down the street.

"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions." Yang reasoned.

" _I_ think, when we hear it, you'll _all_ realize _I_ was right!" She stated matter-of-factly.

"And I think Weiss' hair looks _wonderful_ today!" a familiar overly-friendly voice said from behind them.

Startled, the three of them turned around to see that Penny had somehow found them and snuck up behind them… again…

Startled, Ruby let out a short scream of surprise. " _AAAaaah_! Penny where did you come from?!" She grumbled, not wanting to deal with this right now.

"Hey guys!" Penny greeted them. "What're you up to?" she asked gleefully.

Ruby and Yang looked at each other.

"Uuuuuhhh…" Ruby began.

Yang finished for her. "We're looking for our friend Blake."

"Oooooh, you mean the Faunus girl!" She concluded.

The three looked at her like they had no idea what Penny was talking about. Apparently Blake's double-sided accidental confession hadn't completely set in on them yet.

After a few moments of silence, Ruby spoke up. "Wait, how did _you_ know that?"

Penny replied innocently. "Uuh… the cat ears?" she said, pointing her hand up to where Blake's bow would be on her own head.

Ruby blinked, taking in what she just said.

Still oblivious, Yang immediately asked, "What cat ears? She wears a….. bow….."

It finally hit them that their own teammate was a Faunus, and at least a former member of the White Fang, for all they know.

The four stood in awkward silence at the realization, for what must have felt like an eternity.

Ruby spoke up, whispering "She does like tuna a lot…"

"So, where is she?" Penny asked innocently, getting back to her initial question.

"We don't know." Ruby answered. "She's been missing since Friday."

Penny gasped, and walked over to Ruby, then grabbed her upper arms in support forcefully. "That's _terrible_! Well don't you worry Ruby my friend! I won't rest until we find your teammate!"

"Aha, that's really nice of you Penny, uh, but we-we're okay! Really!" she asserted. "Right guys?" she asked her other two teammates for help, but were missing, having abandoned Ruby to deal with Penny.

* * *

Sun and Blake were walking down the street deliberating about the dust shop robberies, and how the White Fang could be involved.

"So, what's the plan now?" asked Sun.

"I… still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much dust before."

Sun thought for a moment, and came up with something rather crazy.

"What if they _did_?" He began, then he explained his reasoning. "I mean… the only way to prove that they _didn't_ do it… is to go to the place where they would most _likely_ go to if they _were_ to do it, and not find them there… right?" he said, making it up as he went.

Blake pondered on it for a moment. His reasoning isn't that far off.

"The only thing is, I have _no_ idea where that would be." Blake said.

"Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a _huge_ shipment of dust coming in from Atlas." He offered.

"How huge?"

" _Huge._ " He said, using his arms to exaggerate. " _Big_ Schnee company freighter."

"You're _sure_?" Blake asked for confirmation.

* * *

Meanwhile, the sun was starting to set as the three remaining members of team RWBY were still searching for their lost partner.

Yang and Weiss were on their own, having left Ruby with Penny, and continued to search on their own.

"Thanks anyways!" said Yang to the owner of the shop they just left, entering it to ask if they had seen Blake. Yang put her hands on her hips and sighed. "This is _hopeless_." She began, starting to give up. Weiss didn't respond, prompting her to interrogate her a bit. "You really don't care if we find her, _do you_?" She accused.

"Don't be stupid, of course I do." Weiss said, turning to Yang. "I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her." She began to keep walking, continuing the search, but briefly turned around to say "The innocent never run, Yang." before continuing.

* * *

"So… Blake is your friend?" Penny asked.

Ruby sighed openly, annoyed. "Yes Penny."

"But you're _mad_ at her?" Penny asked confused.

"Yes wel-well, _I'm not_ , Weiss _is_." Ruby explained.

"Is _she_ friends with Blake?" Penny continued.

"Well, that's kinda up in the air right now." Ruby stated, unsure of the answer herself.

"But _why_?" Penny asked again. She seemed naïve to the whole concept of friendship and the difficulties that came along with it. Here she was, clearly old enough to attend a combat academy, but she looked like she was still 12, and she acted so innocent as if she was 6 or 7. It's truly strange.

Ruby sighed again, giving up. "Well, you see… Blake might not be who we thought she was." Ruby started.

Penny gasped in shock and surprise, and leaned towards Ruby before whispering " _Is she a_ _man_?"

"No, no Penny," Ruby quickly stopped her. "I don't know _what_ she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off." She explained.

"I don't have a lot of friends," Penny admitted. "But if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things." She reasoned.

That hit Ruby hard. That's exactly what she wished Blake did. Ruby tried her hardest to get Blake to just talk before she bolted, but Blake just ran.

"Me too…" Ruby said before continuing down the street, her hope wavering.

* * *

Meanwhile, Steven hoped the search for Blake was going well. It had been a couple days, but he hoped Blake would at least return on her own soon, for team RWBY's sake. He was out and about, checking out the few festivities that were in place, as it was still early on in the Vytal Festival, but he was still eager to see them. In one of Vale's parks, a few blocks away from the port they were at two days ago, were some stands selling exotic foods that are part of the cultures of the other kingdoms, a stage where people from other kingdoms made performances, and a lot of people having fun. It may not seem like much, but if this is what the Vytal Festival looked like, just on a much larger scale when it was in full swing, then it would be a lot of fun! Steven didn't directly participate in these events, he preferred to watch from afar, being the social loner he is. He propped himself up against the wall of a building nearby the park to watch the performances from afar. And now that it was getting dark, it was reasonable to think that the more… questionable characters would be coming out now, especially with all of the unaware tourists in town now, so Steven could keep a good look out for those people and catch them in the act. That _is_ part of the job description after all. It does fit under 'protecting those who cannot protect themselves', and it's just the right thing to do.

* * *

Blake was lying down on the roof of a warehouse overlooking the docks. It was night, but the moonlight was illuminating the dark enough where one could see, but Blake didn't need this. Thanks to her Faunus heritage, she has the natural ability of night vision, just like most other Faunus. Blake was watching over the docks, specifically looking for any White Fang activity. The Schnee Dust Company freighter finished offloading a while ago, and had since left. The containers from the ship were still here though, and probably would be until the morning when they could be picked up and trucked around and distributed.

Blake had been watching endlessly for what must have been hours, but she was unwavering. She knew Sun's logic was right, and she needed to make sure that the White Fang weren't the ones doing this. It would make her feel better knowing that.

"Did I miss anything?" Sun asked from behind. Blake turned around to see him walk up next to her and crouch down. His arms were full with a few apples, but she didn't notice them at first.

"Not really." She began. "They offloaded all the crates from the boat… Now they're just sitting there."

"Cool." Sun said, offering an apple to Blake with his left hand. "I stole you some food." He said happily, trying to cheer her up a bit.

Blake looked at him blankly. "Do you always break the law without a second thought?"

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun countered, prompting Blake to glare at him. "Ok, too soon." He concluded.

Any further conversation was immediately interrupted as the sound of jet engines filled their ears and hot air from the exhaust blew down on them as a bullhead went by overhead.

The VTOL hovered in front of them with two search lights on, scanning the cargo crates looking for a spot to land. It slowly and carefully descended into an open area across from the rooftop the two Faunus were watching from, and remained there undetected.

The aircraft's engines shut down, and a ramp extended from the side, a single man in black with a white vest strode out. The man wore a mask on his face that looked vaguely Grimm, and the symbol on the back of his uniform, a red tiger head with three parallel red claw marks behind it showed that he was indeed a member of the White Fang.

"Oh no." Blake said, her worst fears confirmed.

"Is that them?" Sun asked.

"Yes… it's them…" Blake confirmed.

Three more people walked out of the transport ship in similar attire. A fourth one followed behind, wearing a slightly more intricate mask, and carrying an automatic rifle in his arms, clearly of a higher rank than the other four.

"Alright, grab the tow cables!" he commanded the other four.

Blake watched them with slight horror and confusion. She thought the White Fang were above this, but clearly she was wrong.

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Sun asked.

"No. I think deep down I knew. I just… didn't want to be right."

* * *

"Hey!" someone yelled out from below, and it wasn't the man with the gun, it was someone else. Blake's eyes suddenly went thin with fear, believing they had been made, until she saw something even worse, and very confusing. "What's the hold up?" the same male voice asked. The men outside of the ship looked back into it at the source, save for a couple who were moving to grab the two cables from the side of the ship.

Stepping out of the ship, the man's features became visible. He was dressed entirely different from the other five men. The man had slanted, dark-green eyes and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. Black eyeliner traced his visible left eye. He wore a red-lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes. His accessories included a small gray scarf, black gloves with buckled sleeves, and a black bowler hat with a small feather tucked into its red band. He walked with a cane in his right hand with a white handle, gray shaft, and red end. He was none other than Roman Torchwick, the highly wanted criminal, wanted by the Vale police department for various crimes ranging from theft to larceny, and blackmailing to smuggling. The most surprising part about him however? He's a human.

As he stepped out, he continued to address the White Fang in front of him. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment… _sooo_ why don't you animals try to pick up the pace."

* * *

"This isn't right." Blake began. "The White Fang would never work with a human. She said as she stood up. "Especially not one like that." She said, taking out her katana from its sheath on her back.

Sun tried to stop her, "Hey! Wait! What're you doing?!" he asked, but it was too late, Blake jumped down to the ground below, and moved into the shadows to confront these people. She ran to the stack of crates, concealing herself as quickly as possible.

She poked her head out from behind one of them to get a good look at the mysterious human yelling at one of the White Fang, who was presenting him with a broken tow cable.

"No! You idiot! This isn't a leash!" Roman insulted the Faunus.

Blake saw this as an opportunity. The Faunus was distracted, and Roman had his back towards her. She ran in behind him in an instant before anyone could react. She then took him as hostage, putting her sword's blade up against his neck.

"What the f-?!" He began. He looked at his attacker, and casually rolled his eyes "Oh, for fu-"

"Nobody move!" Blake interrupted him, catching the attention of everyone there. The White Fang member with a gun aimed it at Blake, as did the others as they took out either pistols or short bladed weapons.

"Wo-ho! _Take it easy there little lady_." Roman calmly said.

The five White Fang surrounded her as best they could. Blake saw a way to reason with them and to get information from them. She slipped off her bow, and threw it behind her, exposing her cat ears.

"Brothers of the White Fang!" She began, getting their attention. They began to relax at the sight of her being a Faunus as well, and lowered their weapons slightly. "Why are you aiding this scum?!" She demanded from them.

Roman chuckled. "Ho-ho, kid, _didn't you get the memo_?"

"What're you talking about?!"

"The White Fang and I are _goin in_ on a joint business venture together." He explained.

Blake pressed her blade closer to his throat. "Tell me what it is, or I'll put an end to your little 'operation'." She commanded him.

Her demands were out done and reversed as the sound of engines roaring overhead along with the hot air blowing down on them once again filled the area. Blake had to look away to avoid getting it blown in her face. Roman looked up to the sounds, countering her last statement, "I wouldn't exactly call it a ' _little_ operation'." he smiled. Blake looked up, seeing at least six other transports coming in now that the coast was clear to nab more shipping crates, and to back up their orchestrator.

Two of the bullheads surrounded Blake and Roman, revealing the machine guns under their noses and aiming them threateningly at her. The other four moved around to grab some containers.

Blake was distracted by the two overhead airships. Roman saw this and smirked, moving his cane's red tip slightly to the side, and pressing a button on the handle, which flipped open the end of the cane with a 'thump' that would be made after opening a tube, revealing it had a transparent piece of glass on the tip with a crosshair painted on it. The cane still pointed to the ground, Roman fired one of the cane's explosive flares at the ground, causing Blake to let go and was blown back from the blast, while Roman dodged the blast.

* * *

Ruby and Penny heard an explosion, and turned around to the west to see a tall, black plume of smoke rising not too far from where they were. They still needed to find Blake, but whatever that was could mean trouble, and they couldn't stand idle when someone's life could be at stake, it was the duty of a hunter or huntress to protect the people, and right now that duty was calling them. The two ran towards the source, taking to the roof tops as it was quicker.

* * *

At the same time, Steven heard the same explosion. Steven quickly stood up from leaning against the building, and looked over the buildings across from to the north for him to see the same black plume of smoke rise into the sky. The mini-festival goers saw it too, and stopped what they were doing. They didn't panic, but they were certainly fearful to an extent. Steven saw that someone might need help, and it was his duty to help those in need. Steven made sure both of his weapons were secured to his body before he began sprinting down the streets towards the explosion.

* * *

There was someone else who noticed the explosion. He was on the opposite side of the explosion from Steven, looking south at it, he knew he couldn't just stand idle while someone might be hurt. He may not be a hunter, but he can at least put his skills to use to help these people out. It would make his family proud, if they were here to see him. He quickly ran towards the explosion without thinking twice, taking to the rooftops to get a better vantage point.

* * *

Blake was on the ground, having been taken off guard by the explosion, and still trying to recover. Roman didn't give her a chance to get up however, and fired another flare towards her from afar. The flare screeched as it made its way to its target in a bright ball of fire.

Blake saw it and immediately dodged it just in time, causing a large explosion, followed up by an even larger explosion as one of the crates filled with dust went off and detonated. Blake quickly got onto her feet, and Roman fired three flares at her. Blake back flipped to avoid the three in succession, using her semblance to take the third one's hit for her so she could get away.

Roman fired another flare at where she stood, but Blake was able to run away behind one of the cargo cranes before he could attack her again. Roman walked forward to get another shot, taunting her " _Here_ kitty kitty kitty…" His walk was abruptly stopped when a banana that was half-peeled was dropped on his hat.

Roman angrily took the banana off his bowler hat and threw it aside, and looked up to see Sun jumping in from above. Sun landed his feet on Roman's head, sending him to the ground. Upon connection, Sun rolled off of Roman in one fluid motion, doing several front flips to gain some distance.

"Leave her alone." He threatened.

The side doors to the bullheads above them opened up, where several White Fang jumped out with bladed weapons and guns, and surrounded Sun on the ground.

Roman, now standing up with his minions surrounding them taunted Sun "You are _not_ the brightest banana in the bunch, are ya kid?"

The White Fang then enclosed the circle, charging Sun all at once.

Sun took the first one on, punching him in the head twice, sending him reeling. One of the White Fang tried to bring his sword down from behind him onto Sun's back, which Sun dodged to the right, and swung his right arm into his head, knocking him down, and continuing by swinging his right leg into the head of the one next to him. Two more came charging at him. Sun continued with his momentum from the last kick to jump and kick one in the chest with left foot, and rolled away on the ground to dodge the attack from the second one. Sun then took a small red bar out from behind him, which extended into a very long, red with gold trim Bo Staff. He extended it above his head, and immediately turned around and brought it down on the enemy closest behind him, sending him back. Sun then rapidly spun his staff above him before turning around and striking another enemy on the side with the very fast attack, continuing it to the one next to him. He then spun it around furiously once more, striking another enemy as he was about to strike when he turned towards him in the head. Sun then spun the staff over his head, keeping up the staff's momentum. Many of the White Fang were charging him again. He finished his last opponent off with a large strike to the side, sending him flying in that direction. Three enemies came at Sun at the same time, and he quickly spun the staff over his head before slamming it flat on the ground, sending an explosive shockwave out from under him on the ground, throwing the enemies away. The one that was able to withstand the attack stayed in place, but Sun just spun around on his Bo Staff as if he was break dancing, kicking the enemy furiously until he lay on the ground unconscious.

Blake peeked out from the leg of the cargo crane she hid behind to watch the remainder of the fight.

One of the white Fang thrust his sword at Sun vertically to parry Sun and break his defense. Sun put the thin end of his staff on the ground and swung around the attack, and brought it behind the enemy's sword, hooking it with the trigger on the end of the staff, which revealed that each end of the staff had a barrel and a trigger to its weapon. He used his leverage to thrown the sword away, and knocked the soldier back with his staff. Sun jumped into the air and landed his foot on the enemy's back, sending him into the air towards Roman.

Roman ducked so the White Fang went over his head and back, before he stood back up. Roman fired another flare at Sun, who put his staff in front of him and began to furiously spin it around in a circle. The flare went through the air with a screech before it exploded in front of Sun, his staff successfully shielding him.

Before Sun could retaliate, Blake dropped in where the blast had occurred yelling "He's mine!"

Blake propelled herself forward and into the air slightly, swinging her katana forward in her right hand, but then bringing her hard sheath forward with her left, forcing Roman's cane out of a blocking position. Blake then landed in front of Roman, and dodged his return swing by ducking. Blake brought her sheath from below and above her to force his cane away again, swinging her body with it. When she turned back around, she tried to block his return swing, but couldn't in time so she jumped in the air to dodge it. Roman swung his cane like a baseball bat at where she used to be, and Blake capitalized on it by launching herself at Roman using her semblance, slashing him in the side and bolting off behind him. Roman recoiled slightly before bringing his cane behind him to defend from the next strike. Blake rushed in from behind, and tried to slash him again but was blocked by his cane. Roman tried to turn around once more to block but Blake was too quick, slashing him on his open side where his defense was exposed. Roman tried to recoil but Blake used her semblance to jump into the air just over Roman, slashing him again on the way. As she reached her apex, she swung back around to face Roman and tried to slash him again. Roman was able to defend this time, and brought his cane down to block her strike. He tried to spin around and hi her, but Blake used her semblance to take the hit for her while she jumped back and dodged it, and blocked the cane with her katana. Roman then punched her in the head, but Blake saw it coming, and had her semblance take the blow for her while she went low and cartwheeled backwards to the side. Roman saw this and brought his cane into Blake again, which she was able to block with her sword again. Blake then moved in as Roman took back his cane and tried to swing for his neck, but Roman was able to block it with his cane. He quickly brought his cane behind him and around him and struck Blake in the bottom of the chin before she could react, which sent her back before she could have her semblance take the blow for her. Blake was stunned from his attack, and couldn't recover before Roman swung once more into her side, causing her to stumble and expose her back to him. Roman tried to vertically swing his cane down onto her back to disable her, but Blake was able to duck enough and roll out of the way, allowing Sun to tag in.

Sun jumped over Blake and kicked Roman in the stomach, which stumbled him back. Before Roman could retaliate, Sun quickly separated his staff into two halves, the middles of both halves collapsing into golden chains, revealing two nun chuck like weapons. Instead of the two solid bars on the chains however, they were replaced with lever-action shotguns, giving him four in total.

Roman swung his cane high to deflect Sun's Bo Staff, but connected with one of the shotguns, but to the same effect. Sun then spun around one of his nunchuck-shotguns and tried to disarm Roman with a return blow, keeping the other held in his left hand and the chain and second gun held under his armpit, but Roman was able to bring his cane out of the way quick enough to only block it. Roman then brought out his cane and prepared to strike, but he had to retreat it to his body when Sun brought his right weapon back and pointed the barrel straight at him, firing a shotgun shell, which Roman blocked with his cane, causing him to recoil a bit. Sun then spun his right nunchuck around, holding the gun by the barrel, but fired the second one as it went in front of Roman, who continued to block the shells, the spin of the nunchuck able to engage the lever action to eject and chamber another shell. Sun recovered his right half over his head, and Roman brought his staff over him to block Sun's blow from above. Roman then knocked Sun's right nunchuck downwards and away from him, allowing Sun to exploit an opening in his defenses. Sun took his left side weapons and spun it around, firing a shell into Roman's exposed side before the second end of the weapon knocked Roman's attempted parry with his cane, turning it into a weak block. Sun then spun his left side weapons in upwards in front of him, chambering the next shell with from the other gun's momentum yanking on the chain to engage the lever-action, before bringing it above him and spinning it around, while his other half of his staff swung in front of him, and fired another shell, which Roman was able to block. His spin above him turned into one that was by his side as his fired shotgun shell after shotgun shell from the spin into Roman, chambering a new shell each time. Simultaneously, Sun spun his second pair of shotguns over and around his arm, firing those shotguns as well. The shower of bullets that was thrown at Roman was enough to cause him to stumble back each impact, but he was able to spin his cane around enough to block the shots themselves from hitting him. Sun saw Roman's defense wasn't breaking, so he spun his shotguns around him, firing each time one of them faced Roman. He threw one of his chains into the air while the second one kept him busy. When it came down, Sun took it and hit Roman with a shell placed right where he couldn't block, causing his defense to break. Blake then charged in from Sun's left, and placed a slash of her katana on Roman's now exposed torso, sending him backwards until he landed on his back on the ground.

Roman looked up at one of the cargo crane's arms, and saw that one was hoisting a container positioned right over Sun and Blake. Roman quickly stood up and aimed his cane at the cables, firing at flare at them with a screech. He hit the lines, sending the heavy shipping container down with gravity towards the two. They quickly looked up, Blake quickly back flipping away, while Sun leapt forward, both dodging the crate, but now being separated by it. Sun stumbled on the ground, and couldn't recover quickly enough before Roman was right above him, pointing his cane at Sun's head while Blake was in no position to back him up.

Sun flipped over on his back to see Roman with the upper hand, his cane's barrel trained right on him.

"HEY!" a third person yelled, interrupting Roman's attack.

Roman looked over onto one of the roofs of the warehouses to see none other than Ruby Rose, spinning Crescent Rose around in front of her before planting the blade into the ground beside her.

"Oh, hello Red!" Roman greeted her. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Penny walked up behind Ruby. "Ruby?" She asked confused. "Are these people your friends?"

Ruby turned her attention to Penny, "Penny get back!" She warned her so she wouldn't get hurt.

Roman saw an opportunity, and fired a flare at Ruby while she was distracted. Ruby turned her head at the screech of the flare just in time to see it impact her, sending her flying back on the roof.

Roman laughed manically, and Penny stared angrily down at Roman.

Penny stepped forward onto the edge of the roof.

"Penny wait! Stop!" Ruby yelled to her, not wanting her to get hurt.

Penny stopped. "Don't worry Ruby," She said in her usual cheery voice. "I'm combat ready!"

A backpack appeared on Penny's back, which slid two doors open to let one large foldable blade out of it, which then split into 8 others, 9 in total, which were all seemingly hovering above her, attached to several nearly invisible strings. Penny spread the blades out and jumped down from the roof, sending several into the White Fang soldiers that were now back up, sending them back down. Penny landed on the ground, recovering the blades to back behind her. She then stood back up and directed the blades towards the enemy and spread them out behind her, and gave an innocent child's smile, which was terrifying to say the least. Shen then directed her left arm to her right, the blades coming around her arm like they were sliding off of it, slicing at the soldier next to her, before they all went off in unison, one after the other past him. She then looked to her left and threw her hand at another soldier, sending the blades at the next enemy one at a time in a steady stream, and sent him into a container. Penny recovered her blades, and two soldiers were running at her from behind. They both jumped at her. Penny took her blades and put them in front of her, creating a large circle with their blades facing outwards to act as a shield. Penny then back flipped and brought the swords into a wider half circle, starting perpendicular to the ground, and ending above her head with the rest behind her s another enemy ran at her. She brought each of the swords forward in a clockwise motion in front of her, hitting the enemy and sending him to the ground. Penny then landed on her feet, and collected the blades in a line behind her right arm, which was behind her left side, as several soldiers ran at her at once. She threw her right arm around as if she was throwing a Frisbee, instead sending her blades forwards in a circle with their blades pointing out, and low to the ground, knocking each one of her enemies onto the ground by taking out their feet.

Sun took the opportunity from Penny's distraction to get up and run over to attack more White Fang soldiers.

Six more bullheads came in in a formation; their guns under their noses deployed, and began to do a strafing run on them, unloading their machine guns in a deadly barrage. This allowed several more bullheads to come in and reinforce their existing troops with even more White Fang fighters, which now easily numbered around 100.

Penny deflected the bullets that were fired towards her with her blades. Her backpack opened up to show two blades that were pointed backwards, and were launched far behind her, planting themselves into the warehouse wall. The small strings attached to them then began to rapidly pull Penny back, bringing her right in front of the warehouse. Penny then took her blades in front of her and put them in a wide circle with a hollow inside as the blades pointed in front of her. The blades began to go around in a clockwise motion together as if they were on a wheel, and quickly increased in speed. A green light soon appeared in the center, which glowed brighter and brighter until Penny brought back her hands and thrust them forward as quickly as she could, sending a gigantic beam of green energy forward from the ball, the force alone breaking up the ground beneath it. Penny's blast cut three of the bullheads cleanly up the middle, causing them to explode and fall out of the sky, their crew members with them.

Ruby watched astonished as the halves of the aircraft kept going onwards from their inertia, sending them into the harbor.

Several transports made it out of the attack, and came back around to do another strafing run.

Ruby looked back to see One of the transports was pinning her down while another took one of the shipping containers and was hovering really low to the ground, about to take off. Ruby directed her sniper rifle at the engine of the one with the container, but was stopped when she heard the ground quaking, and the noise of thunderous footsteps from something running towards the transport.

Suddenly, a wall of shipping containers exploded outwards, sending the White Fang behind them with it, and out came a charging black and red tyrannosaurus with a giant Rhino horn on its nose. It roared as it charged the low aircraft, thrusting its horn up into the underbelly, puncturing the steel, and thrashing it to the side, causing it to collide with the bullhead attacking Penny, tipping them both over onto their sides, detonating one of the engines and blowing up the two aircraft in a ball of fire. The Tyrannosaurus then quickly flashed red before revealing Steven, having used his semblance to come in to help, his gun already trained on White Fang surrounding Penny. Penny thought he was going to fire on her, but when she saw his gun fire around her, she turned around and saw several White Fang on the ground beside her, unconscious. Penny gave him a grateful salute, which he returned with a smile and a light nod.

From above, Ruby saw several enemies coming up behind Steven, and quickly launched herself forwards, off the edge of the roof, with her sniper rifle. She landed behind Steven, which he quickly noticed as she brought her scythe up, seemingly about to strike him. Steven dodge rolled to the side, switching his gun into a sword along the way. Ruby struck the ground with enough force to send Steven's attackers away from the shockwave. Steven smiled at Ruby gratuitously, who recovered her scythe and faced towards him with her own smile. Both of their smiles turned into concerned looks as they saw White Fang running at the other from behind. Ruby trained her scythe's barrel on Steven's attackers while Steven unholstered his Desert Eagle and aimed it at the enemies behind Ruby with his left arm. They fired at the same time, making a loud 'bang' in the air as the guns fired. They both got the message that there were enemies behind themselves, and both spun around to meet the remaining ones.

Steven spun around, pistol whipping the nearest one in the neck, knocking him unconscious. The other two next to him swung at Steven with their swords. Steven quickly turned his hand cannon into its War Axe, and brought it up to block the one on the left, while he blocked the one on the right with his sword. Steven hooked onto the left enemy's sword with the inside of his axe's blade, and pulled it towards him, forcing the blade out of his attackers' hand. Steven then kicked him in the chest, forcing him away, before turning his attention to the remaining attacker. They were still locked in a stalemate with their sword blades against one another, which Steven broke as he brought his War Axe up from above him, and down onto the enemy's right shoulder, shattering it with a noticeable snap and crackling in the air, causing the White Fang to drop his sword in pain and stepping back, grasping his shoulder. Steven then hit the enemy in the side of the neck with the hilt of his sword, knocking him unconscious. The last one was now charging at Steven with his fists. Steven switched his War Axe back into the Desert Eagle, and fired a shot into his chest, throwing him back from the force and onto the ground unconscious.

Simultaneously, Ruby spun around rapidly, her scythe extended in front of her, in a tornado of rose petals, which was complemented by her red cloak that was spinning around her with the wind. She quickly expelled the enemies around her, and finished with her hand on the ground and her scythe held out behind her.

Penny attacked more White Fang who decided to get back up and rejoin the fight, all at once, sending her blades out to trip them once more, only for the blades to come back and slash at them as they were still falling. The White Fang they missed were being engaged by Sun and Blake, and as the mob of White Fang kept encircling the five of them, each of them fending them off, they were backed into a circle.

Roman stood on the sidelines, smiling upon seeing the White Fang slowly getting the advantage over the children who decided to interrupt his operation.

Everyone was now back-to-back, and their situation was growing desperate as White Fang kept coming relentlessly, replacing the ones who just fell, and continuing where they left off.

Steven had the most trouble out of all of them. It seemed like the enemy just kept piling on him, trying to overwhelm one part of the circle so the rest would collapse. No one could assist him, as they were all occupied themselves. He wanted to use his semblance badly, but knew that using it would mean risking an opening in his teammate's flanks if he left to go on the offensive.

Steven had just blocked the strikes of two enemies, one with each of his bladed weapons, but a third came in between them, and tried to stab Steven in the abdomen. Steven had to recover his weapons, breaking the block of the other two, and bring his weapons in front of the middle man's target, making an 'X' with his weapons. This blocked the blow, but it allowed the two newly freed men to attack Steven freely, especially with his defense too localized to the center, leaving his sides open as the middle man kept pushing his sword into the center of the 'X'. The man on Steven's left swiped at Steven's side where his armor didn't reach, causing him to shout in pain a little as he recoiled to the side. Steven then tried to kick the middle attacker away, but the attacker to the right brought the hilt of his sword down on Steven's knee. Steven shouted in pain once more, the force of the blow forcing him down to one knee.

The others could only listen on as they tried to create an opening themselves.

Steven saw very few options at the moment, but he needed to create some space. Steven turned his War axe into the Desert Eagle, and fired on the man on the left and middle as he held the man on the right with his sword, and he slowly got back up on his feet. The middle and left man fell to the ground from the force of the bullets, but were quickly replaced by two more fresh men. Steven fired two more rounds into one of them, and tried to fire more, but his magazine was empty and he didn't have enough time to reload, so he returned it to his axe form.

* * *

A figure stood atop one of the stacks of crates, and had been watching the battle the entire time, unbeknownst to either party. He was dressed in a long-sleeved, dark orange flannel with dark blue stripes, black jeans, and he wore a black fedora with a strap above the brim that is black with white zig-zags around it, as well as a gold, white, and red feather behind the silver buckle on the strap. He wore sneakers, and protective armor under the shirt. He had been there, originally to help, but he could only watch dumbstruck. He was about to jump in and help out the orange-haired girl with the floating swords, but was stopped in his tracks when a friggin' Tyrannosaurus rammed through the shipping containers across the way, and took out the enemy for him. He was about to attack the strange creature, believing it to be another Grimm, but he was surprised, dumbstruck, and frozen when he saw it turn into a human, one whom he never thought he'd see again. Hundreds of emotions filled his mind, unsure of how to feel at the sight. He never thought he was the only one that ended up here, but sure as shit, there he was. He could only stare on, unable to move. He was simply stuck in thought. Here he was, thinking he was the only one to make it onto this god forsaken world, yet down below him stood his old friend, and it was no mistake that it was certainly Steven Paxton. He thought he was alone on this world, forced to live off of the land and fighting as much as he could to try to get into that combat academy next year, as he heard about it too late to apply himself. He watched on as the White Fang began to take down everyone's defenses, the circle slowly crumbling. Steven was clearly the weakpoint of the circle with the way they were attacking and reinforcing on top of him. There were now five people attacking him at once and he couldn't possibly take them all on alone, especially given the circumstances that he was given. The mysterious figure watched as a sixth person jumped over the two of them, which Steven didn't realize as he moved to block something from his far right, and was about to strike Steven down, and potentially break the circle.

'No!' he thought. 'No one will hurt my old friend, not while I have something to say about it!'

The mysterious figure jumped off the crates, landing on the cement ground before sprinting as fast as he could at Steven's attackers. Everything except for him slowed down until he was right on top of Steven's attackers.

* * *

Steven had just successfully blocked and pushed back one of his attackers, giving him a little breathing room. He looked back to see an enemy jumping down onto him, his sword pointing down to stab him, and he knew he could do nothing to stop it, there simply wasn't enough time. Seconds turned into minutes as he watched his impending doom coming towards him, but his state was broken when something slammed into the enemy's side, fast, causing him to fly off into the shipping containers with a loud 'thud'. Steven didn't know what the hell just happened, but he didn't ponder on it too long, he'd figure it out later. Steven got back up, and tried to go on the offensive once more against his enemies, but to no avail, there were simply too many of them.

However, when he heard automatic gunshots behind the enemies in front of them, he saw the White Fang begin to fall over to the ground. Steven took their state of confusion to his advantage. He pushed the five people on him back in one strong push, forcing them to stumble. He then used his semblance to transform into his orange raptor, and began furiously attacking any White Fang unlucky enough to be in front of him. He began to take some of the pressure off of Ruby, who was to his right, which allowed her to finish off her opponents and begin helping the others.

Steven then turned around at another two people jumping into the air to lunge at him, but they were stopped mid-air as someone slammed into one of them from the side, swinging a tonfa down on the back of his head, while the other tonfa in his other hand began firing bullets into the side of the other one. Steven looked at the enraged face of his savior, and was shocked at who it was that saved him twice now. His face was unmistakable, and it brought new found courage and energy to Steven upon seeing the unforgettable face of his best friend, Connor Calabresi. Steven changed back into his human form.

"Connor?! Is that really you man?" He called out.

"Steve, now isn't _exactly_ the best time for reunions!" Connor shouted back over the mass of enemies between them.

Steven knew he was right, so he got right to work helping his friend out with the enemies between them, while the other for mopped up the rest. Steven took the time to reload his pistol, and switch both weapons back into their gun forms. Steven then holstered his desert eagle as he unloaded his assault rifle magazine into the crowd of White Fang, many of them falling down from the rounds incapacitating them. Several enemies ran towards him, so he switched it back to his sword and ran to the nearest one. Steven quickly slashed his sword into his enemy's, causing him to stumble back immediately. Steven capitalized on this and hit him in the neck with the hilt of his sword, rendering him unconscious. Steven blocked a strike from his left as someone tried to take an opportunity, and kicked him down to the ground before kicking him in the chest afterwards. Steven then fired a bullet from his sword behind him at the enemy closing in, bringing the sword in front of him, twirling it and turning around to bring it down on his assailant, causing to fall over.

* * *

On the other side, Connor unloaded his SMG Tonfas into the crows, bringing several of them to the ground incapacitated. Several of them were able to deflect the bullets away with their swords, and ran at him. Connor let them come, blocking the first's sword with the long end of his tonfa which he turned around so the long end was protecting his forearm. He then brought his left arm in front of him and struck his opponent in the side with the hard material the weapon was made out of, causing him to stumble sideways, which Steven followed up with a strike from his right tonfa, hitting the White Fang in the side of the skull, knocking him out. He then back flipped out of a swipe from under his legs that came from his enemy to his right, and fired some bullets into him, taking him down. Connor's SMG's made a clicking noise. Connor held a button on the side of the grips before flicking the guns towards one another, throwing the magazines on the sides of the guns to the ground, then bringing them to his thighs. Then he pressed the tonfas to his thighs until he heard another click, and brought the SMG's back up with a fresh magazine. He then ran towards another man and slid under his horizontal swipe before getting back up behind him, and kicking him in the spine and onto the ground. He then swung his right tonfa to the right, hitting another enemy in the side. He continued his attack by striking him once more in the chest and head with his left tonfa before kicking him over. Two enemies appeared at either side of him, and they both ran towards him to attack. Connor ran towards the one to his left, dodging the enemy's attack by spinning and getting to his side, before smashing one of his tonfas into his opponent's back, and finishing him off by slamming the other into the top of his shoulder. Connor turned to face his second opponent, who was in progress of swinging his sword at him, but was flung to the side, away from the crowd of his comrades as he was shot from the side by Steven's Desert Eagle.

* * *

Steven brought his gun back after taking the shot, and he held it at the ready with his sword by his side as several opponents began to surround him. They all ran at him at once. Steven had no way to get out of this situation, he couldn't jump high enough to get out, and he couldn't use his semblance and risk running low on his aura. Suddenly, however, Steven felt a sudden surge of energy within him. It came out of nowhere, and he couldn't explain where it came from or how it happened. His eyes began to emanate a dark red fire. Without thinking, Steven slammed the palm of his left hand onto the ground, causing a large explosion around him as he sat there, blowing away his attackers and several others. After it was gone, he stood back up, and the sensation went away as quickly as it came. He had no idea what happened, but he didn't have the time to think about that now.

Sun, Blake, and Ruby started surging through the crowd of remaining White Fang now that they had taken care of their own problems, and began taking them out in mass.

* * *

Roman watched on in shock as the tides turned against him. His minions were failing and losing, which annoyed him greatly. He decided he needed to retreat, the mission was a failure. Roman ran to the bullhead that was still landed on the edge of the docks from earlier, getting inside.

" _These kids just keep getting weirder_!" he exclaimed to himself before closing the door to the side with his cane. The transport then took off and retreated with any remaining bullheads left, leaving the now defeated White Fang behind to fend for themselves.

* * *

The police soon arrived in force and arrested any remaining and unconscious White Fang that were there, which was basically all of them. Steven, Ruby, Blake, Sun, Penny, and Connor let them do their job.

Steven and Connor simply looked at each other, glad that there was at least someone else that got here, before engaging in a brotherly hug.

"I can't believe you're here, Connor. I thought I was the only one here!" Steven said.

"I thought _I_ was the only one here! I've been jumping around and doing shit all over the place looking for anyone, and here you are!" Connor replied.

"I could say the same thing to you." Steven chuckled. Steven heard something flapping behind Connor, and looked behind him to see that he had a German Shepherd's tail coming out of his butt.

"Ok, Connor. What the fuck is that?" Steven asked, not sure what the hell to think.

"It's a German Shepherd tail, why?" He replied.

"But…why?!" Steven asked confused.

"What, you expect me to know how the fuck this happened?!" Connor deadpanned. "When I woke up here I had this tail coming out of my ass, and now I have night vision and I can smell really well, that's all I know." He explained.

Steven understood after that, but that didn't mean he still wasn't confused. Why and how did Connor turn into a Faunus, and why didn't he turn into one was beyond him for sure, but that didn't stop him from wondering.

"So…. H-how do you feel about it?" Steven asked cautiously.

"Honestly, I mean, I don't _hate_ it… but it's certainly weird…" Connor began. "I mean, I like my enhanced senses, but the tail is a little weird, but I've already gotten used to it. But enough about me, where have you been all this time?" he interjected.

"I've been attending Beacon Academy, on the cliffs to the East of Vale." He replied.

"You got into Beacon?!" Connor asked astounded.

Ruby, and Penny walked over to them. Ruby saw that the two seemed like friends, so she asked them about it.

Steven and Connor saw the two approaching. "I'll tell you all about it later." Steven promised.

Ruby walked next to the two of them. "So, Steve… who's this?" She asked curiously, eyeing Connor a bit suspiciously.

"This is my old friend Connor. We, uh… we were friends back on Earth." He explained after a moment.

"I thought you said Earth didn't have Faunus?" Ruby asked cautiously, motioning towards Connor's tail.

"We didn't…" he started, unsure of how to explain the situation. "But Connor wasn't a Faunus on Earth either… he _was_ a human."

"And who exactly are you?" Connor asked.

"I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose." She told him. "Nice to meet you." She offered her hand for a handshake, which Connor returned.

"Hi! I'm Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny said in her creepily enthusiastic voice.

Connor looked to Steven for help with the situation with an expression that said 'who the hell is this and what's wrong with her?'

Steven shrugged.

"Uh… Hi Penny, I'm Connor…" he replied awkwardly.

Before any conversation could continue, some detectives came over and asked if they could all come with him so they could ask them some questions, explaining they were not in trouble and that they did the right thing, but that they needed as much information as they could get in order to catch whoever did this.

* * *

They were all brought over to a bunch of crates, where Blake and Sun were already sitting. Ruby looked at Blake, who sat across from her. Blake explained everything. Her Faunus traits, her past, and all of that, but how she was no longer part of the White Fang, and how she now disagreed with their methods now, and explained why she acted the way she did the other night. Ruby was completely understanding actually, which surprised Blake. She understood, saying she'd probably do the same thing in all honesty.

It was all music to Steven's ears, seeing the two reconciling and reuniting, but Weiss would probably be a challenge on her own.

It was at this time that Sun also introduced himself, and it turns out he was actually a pretty cool dude.

Penny, Steven, Connor, Ruby, Blake, and Sun looked over when they heard footsteps, seeing Yang and Weiss walking towards them, having finally arrived.

Ruby immediately got up and tried to talk to Weiss before she made the situation even worse.

"Look, Weiss, It's not what you think, she explained the whole thing, you see? She doesn't actually wear a bow she has kitty ears and they're actually kinda cute." She said all at once. Yang stopped beside her, but Weiss went past her, not paying any attention, and walked straight to Blake.

Blake stood up, ready amd prepared for the verbal beating Weiss was about to give her.

Weiss just looked at her for a moment, and everyone watched the tension between the two, none of them daring to speak a word.

Everyone except for Connor, who went " _Oooooh_ cat fight!"

Steven quickly slapped his hand on Connor's mouth, and Blake glared at his remark, specifically the cat part. Connor knew she was a cat Faunus.

Blake turned back to Weiss.

"Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was-"

"Stop." Weiss silenced her. "Do you have _any_ idea how long we've been searching for you?" Blake stood in silence. " _Twelve hours._ That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And, in that twelve hours, I've decided…" Weiss got closer, and everyone watched in silence, hoping she doesn't flare up again. "I don't care!" She explained.

"You don't care?" Blake asked confused.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss reiterated.

"No, I haven't been since I was younger-"

"Abupupupup." Weiss silenced her again, telling her to not go any further. "I don't want to hear it. All I want to know, is that the next time something _this_ big comes up… you come to your _teammates_ … and not some…" She began, both looking at Sun. "Someone else." She corrected herself before she became derogatory again.

Ruby, Steven, and Yang looked on with smiles, thankful that this went a better way than it could have.

"Of course." Blake responded. Weiss smiled, happy that that had been established, and that their problems have been swept under the rug.

" _YYEEEAH!_ Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby cheered.

Everyone walked over to Blake and Weiss, including Sun, Steven, and Connor, but not Penny.

Weiss suddenly turned to Sun, pointing her finger accusingly at him. "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you!" she snapped.

Sun laughed nervously.

Weiss then turned the opposite direction towards Connor. "And who exactly are you?!" She asked with unnecessary attitude.

"Jesus lady, calm your tits!" Connor retorted, wincing at her attitude.

Before Weiss could scold him, Steven stepped in.

"Connor, don't worry." He said with a chuckle. "These are my friends from Beacon… well, minus Sun, he's here from Vacuo for the tournament. That's Weiss Schnee." He pointed to her. "This is Blake Belladonna," He pointed to the Faunus, who waved at him. "This is Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's older sister,"

"Hiya!" Yang greeted him.

"And of course you already met Ruby." He finished.

"Hai!" She greeted him once more.

Connor gave Steven a look that said 'These are the people you've been hanging out with while I was gone?'

"Everyone, this is Connor Calabresi. He was, well, is," he corrected, "my best friend from Earth."

"I can introduce myself, thank you!" Connor scorned Steve, who just shrugged.

"Wait, I thought Earth didn't have Faunus?" Blake asked, looking at Connor's tail.

"I was originally human, but when I got here, I grew this." Connor explained with an 'I don't know how this happened either' look.

Steven chuckled, and Ruby giggled.

Ruby looked around before asking, "Hey, where's Penny?"

Everyone looked around. She was there a minute ago.

"Huh. Strange." Ruby dismissed it.

One of the cops walked over to the group of teenagers. It was the same bearded cop from the dust shop earlier, in fact.

"Alright, you kids are free to go back to Beacon." He started, before pointing at Sun. "I'll be watching you…" He said threateningly. He let Sun go with a warning, though, which was nice of him, considering he _did_ just help protect some cargo from being stolen by a group of terrorists.

"Wait, where am I gonna go?" Connor asked. "I don't go to Beacon." He explained.

"Don't worry about it." Steven reassured him, but not expanding much further.

"What? What do you mean? Don't you have a team of your own with these people?" Connor asked.

"Nope. They're their own team. I'm on my own. There were an odd number of acceptances this year." Steven replied.

"But I still don't go to Beacon." Connor continued.

"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to Ozpin about it." Steven reassured him.

"Ugh, I've got a bad feeling about this…" Connor said.

"Eh, don't worry about it, it'll be _fine_." Steven repeated.

They all walked back to Beacon together, exhausted from the day's activities and whatnot.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ozpin watched Ruby and Steven on his tablet from the office in his tower, replaying various points in their fighting. He specifically watched Steven's fighting when he was surrounded and created that explosion out of nowhere. It fascinated him, and seemed to solidify his theories. A message notification in the corner of his tablet caused him to pause and minimize the videos. He opened the message. It was from a rather secret contact of Ozpins, which could be inferred by the lack of description, location, and contact picture of the sender. The only identifying piece of information was the contact's name, 'Qrow'.

The message read 'Queen has pawns.'

This is not news Ozpin wanted to see. It meant _very bad things_.

* * *

 _It turns out; Steven wasn't the only one to be taken to this strange world after all. However, perhaps this brought about more questions than answers. Why had Connor been brought here with Steven? Who else was brought here? Did that mysterious voice in Steven's head have something to do with this? And speaking of which, why hadn't he had a similar incident like he had in the forest since then? Where did she go? Who is she? Why was Steven so important specifically?_

 _There are simply too many questions and not enough answers, and the answers are coming every now and then, but with even more questions behind them._

 _Not to mention, he may not want to know many of the answers that await his questions. He won't be able to take them, two in particular, that he won't be able to understand nor grasp the meaning of, but only time will reveal these questions._

 _But now that Connor is here, Steven is at ease, and is able to focus more knowing he isn't the only one who was brought here. A lot of explaining and talking will have to wait until tomorrow though, as its late, and everyone's tired after kicking some terrorist ass. Connor will get to know Steven's new friends, and maybe, just maybe, they can become half of a team together, and face their future challenges together as one, alongside teams RWBY and JNPR. Find out what happens next time in Chapter 10: A Team Begins To Take Shape._


	11. Chapter 10: A Team Begins to Take Shape

**Hello again everyone! sorry it has been so long since I have updated, I promise I have not given up on any of my stories.**

 **Before you begin reading, I need you all to read this. I have begun school, and until I can get into my routine, and get some more free time, I will only be updating _one_ story every week. That being said, My 'weeks' are considered from Monday to Sunday. And I will alternate which of my two stories are being updated each week. This week was Brave New World, last week and next week are The Grim Apocalpyse. This is simply so I can keep myself going, and updating these stories on a semi-regular basis. Stories will not be updated every sunday, or any other specific day, they'll simply be updated when they can. However, I will only update one chapter per week. If I finish a chapter early, I'll post it early and begin working on the next one, or take the time to rest a day or so. If on the off chance I post a chapter for both stories in one week, then, unless otherwise specified, the next chapter I will post will be the first that was posted. For example; If I post this chapter on Saturday, and one for The Grim Apocalypse on Sunday, then the next week's chapter will be for Brave New World. **

**If you have any questions about my update schedule, then let me know. I will be happy to answer them.**

 **I am sorry I have to structure my update schedule like this, but between my job, looking at colleges, and work for 4 AP classes, I dont have much time anymore. But I will see these stories through to the end, and I will not slack off on the content, it will just be published with less frequency.**

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 **Now, there is another thing I'd like to address that brings me immense happiness; this story has accumulated over 5 THOUSAND views, over 50 Followers, and almost 50 Favorites! I am overjoyed that my story is so enjoyable to all of you. I really dont celebrate my milestones enough, and I really need to start! So, in celebration, I want to do a little somethin somethin. If _you_ have an idea you'd like to see in the story at some point, and as long as it 1. doesnt completely derail my story, 2. take away from the story, 3. involve rated M themes, or 4. make the story too much non-canon at the point it already is, submit that shit in a review or a PM!  
**

 **I'll pick the one I like the thought of the most, and that works the best. If there are not enough people that end up doing this, then I'll do something like this again in the future when more people will hopefully participate. So have fun with your ideas, and let me know what they are!**

 **Since there are no reviews for me to respond to, I will no longer delay you from proceeding. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: A Team Begins to Take Shape**

* * *

The walk back to Beacon was mostly silent, everyone being tired from the fighting and searching earlier, and they were eager to go to bed.

Blake was happy and content that her team was so accepting of her, but now that her secrets have been let out, she knew things would change between them. The changes would be small though, as it seemed as if her team would be with her through anything and everything, and that meant the world to her, especially considering her past.

Connor was nervous. Not only had he fought against a violent terrorist organization, but now he was heading to _Beacon_ , for the night at least. He didn't want to be caught in a place he didn't belong, even if he had a strong desire of being there in the first place, it just wouldn't feel right. But he trusted Steven, and knew that he could probably put in a good word for him should he need to.

In fact, Steven would go as far as to do many other things for him, and Connor would do the same. The two were inseparable on Earth, and were basically bros, the only thing proving they weren't literally brothers was that they didn't share the same blood.

* * *

They took their time getting back to the school, even though they wanted to sprint home to go to bed, but they were simply too tired to even attempt to do it. Eventually they got to their respective dorm rooms, at about 1 in the morning though.

"Goodnight everyone." Steven said once they arrived at their rooms. Everyone just hummed, too tired to say anything before the entirety of Team RWBY disappeared into their bedroom. Team JNPR was already asleep, so that just left Steven and Connor awake essentially.

"Soooo, where am I sleeping?" Connor asked.

"Right here." Steven answered as he opened the door to his room, which was right next to team RWBY's room.

Inside the room, Connor could clearly see the four beds, and only one was taken up, which was the one on the far left, which he assumed was Steven's bed.

"Take your pick." Steven said, motioning to the three open beds. "We've gotta get up early tomorrow, classes start at 9 and we need to get breakfast then see Ozpin before they start."

"The headmaster? Why do you want to see him?" Connor asked. He knew the headmaster's name, mostly because everyone did. He was a popular person here in Vale, for various reasons.

"Well, I should probably tell him about last night if he hasn't already heard, and I want to see if he'll let you join even though we're kinda almost done with the first semester." Steven explained.

"You really think he's going to just let me in half-way into the school year?" Connor asked pessimistically.

"You never know." Steven replied optimistically. Connor shrugged. Steven took off his armor and changed into his PJ's quickly before getting into his bed.

Connor chose the bed next to Steven's, the second from the left, and laid down on it in his clothes. He put his weapons and shoes and other gear on the floor, but he hung his fedora on top of the lamp shade on the night stand next to his bed before crawling into bed. This was the first _real_ bed Connor had slept in in weeks, and it felt great. He could really get used to this!

* * *

The next morning the two of them woke up to the sound of Steven's scroll sounding off with its alarm. It was 7 in the morning, and they only slept about six hours, but they woke up refreshed regardless.

"Alright, here's what my usual routine is:" Steven began as they both got up. "When I wake up, I immediately go and take a shower. We do have a bathroom in the dorm room here, but ours doesn't have a shower unfortunately, so we have to go down the hall to the public showers. Now, you probably don't have any other clothes, but luckily, (for some reason), the school always supplies each dorm with extra uniforms of various sizes, so, whether you're a student or not, you can wear one for now until we talk to Ozpin."

"Ok." Connor said, acknowledging what Steven has told him so far.

"After that, I come back here and grab the stuff I'll need for the day's classes. The first class today is Professor Port's Grimm Studies class, so I'll grab the necessary things for that class." Steven explained.

Connor hummed in acknowledgment.

"Then I go to breakfast and sit with Team RWBY and JNPR. You haven't met team JNPR yet, they live across the hall from team RWBY, but you'll like them."

"Are they all girls?" Connor asked. He didn't have anything against the opposite sex, he just didn't like the idea that he could be hanging out with mostly girls instead of guys if he was to actually be accepted here.

"No, there are two guys on their team. Jaune Arc is their leader, and then there's Lie Ren, but we just call him Ren." He explained. "Oh, and there's this girl named Nora on their team too. Just a friendly warning: she's kinda hyper and nuts and shit. So if she becomes really crazy or something, that's normal."

" _Great._ " Connor said sarcastically.

"Then there's Pyrrha Nikos. She's really nice, and she's a really good fighter. In Mistral she's won a few tournaments apparently, that's what I've been told."

"Sounds interesting." Connor said.

"I know you probably want to catch up, I know I do, but that will sadly need to wait. We'll have plenty of time to talk tonight after classes."

"Yeah, I figured as much. I can wait though." Connor assured him.

* * *

With that, the two went to the showers, and came back to the dorm room. Connor grabbed one of the spare uniforms and put it on. Steven grabbed his things he would need for his first class, and grabbed some extra stuff for Connor.

"Will I need my weapons and can I wear my hat?" Connor asked Steven.

"No, you'll only need your weapons for our combat classes, which we don't have today, and for when we're out on missions or training." Steven explained. "And the school dress code is pretty lax. As long as you're wearing the uniform properly, then you can add anything you want to it. Ruby wears her red hood all the time, and Blake always wears her bow. Pyrrha across the hall always wears her headdress as well." He explained.

"Ok, cool." Connor said as he took his fedora and put it on his head.

"It's good to know I'm not the only one here. I was beginning to miss that fedora." Steven smiled.

"Heh," Connor chuckled. "I could say the same, just without the hat part."

"Alright, let's go get some breakfast. I'm starving." Steven said.

"Yeah, same here. What kind of stuff do they serve at the cafeteria?"

"Oh, they've got _tons_ of stuff." Steven began as the two exited their room, Steven locking it behind them, before they proceeded to walk to the cafeteria. "Everyday they've got cereal, doughnuts, oatmeal, muffins, stuff like that. Then they have a thing they mix up every now and then. Usually its eggs and bacon, other times they have ham or French toast. You can make omelets as well, and there's a place where you can make waffles and pancakes too."

"Sounds good to me!" Connor said with a wide grin on his face. He loved bagels, specifically onion bagels, and he hoped they had English muffins so he could 'put some cheese and sausage on that shet' as he would put it.

"Oh, and I should warn you about Nora once again." Steven said.

"What, that she's nuts?"

"Yes, but also don't get between her and her pancakes, she _will_ end you!" He cautioned Connor.

Connor laughed. "Yeah, okay. Got it." He said slightly sarcastically, thinking Steven was joking.

"You think I'm kidding?" Steven asked.

Connor looked at him in the eyes, and read his expression. "Oh, god you're not kidding are you."

"Nope."

* * *

The two old friends walked down to the cafeteria, with Steven pointing out the various locations he should know if he ends up going here. He seemed awful confident that Ozpin would let him in, but Connor dismissed it and soaked it in regardless. Steven was sure to point out several classrooms and offices, as well as where the library was as they walked by it.

The pair walked into the cafeteria, which was bustling with all of the students eating before their first class began, talking amongst themselves about various things. The two got into the breakfast line. Steven just got his usual, scrambled eggs and bacon, as well as some chocolate milk and some hash browns. Connor on the other hand grabbed an onion bagel as soon as he saw it. He then saw some stuff that closely resembled an English muffin, called 'Patch bread' after the small town outside of Vale. He immediately grabbed two pieces of it, two halves each, and some cheese slices, and breakfast sausage, before grabbing some apple juice.

Connor walked over to Steven who was waiting for him after he left the line. "Aww yiss!" He said as he showed his friend what he got.

Steven laughed. "Nice find there. Alright, follow me. Let's go introduce you to team JNPR." He said as he turned around and began walking towards his usual table.

"Mornin' everyone!" Steven said to the table in his usual cheery attitude.

Everyone said their various good mornings as Steven sat down diagonal from Yang, and next to Ren. Connor sat down next to Steven.

"Hey Connor!" Ruby waved in her usual friendly greeting, welcoming him to their table.

"Hey." He responded.

"Oooh, who's this Steve?" Nora bent backwards to look at Steven behind her teammates next to her.

"Everyone, this is Connor, my ol' best friend from Earth." Steven introduced him to the table.

Those who didn't know who Connor already gasped in shock or surprise. They thought Steven was the only one who came to Remnant from Earth.

"Wait, how'd you find him?" Pyrrha asked.

"You guys hear what happened at the docks last night?" Yang asked team JNPR.

"Vaguely, why?" She responded.

"Penny, Blake, Sun, and I were there when it got messy, then Steven showed up followed by Connor, and they helped us push back the White Fang and prevent them from stealing any dust shipments." Ruby explained. She went on further to even say that, without Connor jumping in when he did, the situation could have easily ended very badly for the five of them.

"Do you go to a combat academy Connor?" Ren asked.

"No. I tried applying to Beacon, but I was too late. So I trained hard, hoping to get in next year. Steven just brought me in to sleep in his room for the night, and I'm wearing this to avoid suspicion and for a change of clothes." He explained as he motioned to his uniform.

"Yeah. We're going to see Ozpin after breakfast and before class to see if he'll let him in." Steven continued.

"Don't you think it's a little too far in the school year for Ozpin to let someone new in?" Weiss asked. Several people at the table glared at her. "What? It's not that I don't wish for him to join, it's just that we _have_ gone through a _lot_ of material that he will need to pick up quickly." She explained.

"She's right." Steven said before anyone could say anything. "But that doesn't mean we can't _try,_ so that's what we're doing."

Everyone took a few bites of their food before Jaune spoke up.

Noticing his tail, he began "Hey Steve, I thought you said there were no Faunus on Earth?"

"There aren't." Steven reiterated.

Everyone looked at Connor who didn't already know the reasoning, with a confused look. He clearly had a dog's tail, but here Steven was saying Connor is human.

"Let me explain to the best of my ability about my situation." Connor offered. "So, I woke up here like four months ago or something and I had this dog tail." He began. "I don't know how much about Earth Steven told you, but we don't have Faunus there, I _was_ a human back there, but for some reason I now have a dog tail. So the reasoning to that, I'm just as curious as you are." He finished.

Everyone seemed to accept his explanation quite well.

"So who exactly are you people?" Connor asked after taking a bite of his custom breakfast sandwich.

"Oh, where are our manners?" Pyrrha asked, excusing herself for her impoliteness earlier. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos. Pleased to meet you." She said as she leaned back to look at Connor behind Jaune and Ren.

"I'm Nora Valkyrie" Nora said before stuffing her face with pancakes.

"I'm Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR." Jaune said in an exaggerated tone like he was heroic or something.

"I'm Ren." Ren said as he looked over to his right with a small wave and sincere smile.

"You already know me, Ruby Rose, killer of Grimm and slayer of evil!" Ruby exaggerated as she stood up heroically on the table towards the end.

"You've already seen me, but I don't think I've introduced myself yet." Yang began. "I'm Yang Xiao Long, awesome brawler with awesome hair and Ruby's older sister." She finished with a small self-centered smile.

"I'm Weiss Schnee, and you've already met me and given _me_ unnecessary attitude, which I do not appreciate, but I am willing to push that aside as you are a friend of Steven's." She compromised.

"To be fair, you gave Connor unnecessary attitude before he did last night." Ruby defended him. Weiss glared at her partner.

"I'm Blake." The newly discovered Faunus said in a slightly shy tone. She didn't like meeting new people that much. It took her a while to get used to her team and team JNPR, but she wasn't unwilling to add more people to the roster. Additionally, team JNPR was now aware of her Faunus heritage, and had accepted her as if nothing had happened, just how she hoped.

Connor already knew she was a cat Faunus from the night before, as well as the distinct scent she had. Faunus have a special scent that they give off that is distinct from humans, which other Faunus can detect, telling them if they are one or not, whether they are showing their traits or if they're more hidden.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Connor assured them as he smiled.

The rest of the meal at the table was mostly team RWBY and Steven describing the events of the night before at the docks. And by team RWBY, I mean mostly Ruby, as she was the only one who consistently had a good look over the battle. Blake was also sure to add the information that she gathered from Roman Torchwick.

After a long, and exciting discussion, Steven looked at his scroll for the time; 8:30.

"Connor, we should probably get going if we want to speak to Ozpin and get to class on time." Steven said to his friend. "If we're late to class, just tell Port that we're talking with Ozpin." He told the table.

Connor took the last bite of his bagel before getting up with Steven.

"It was nice meeting you all." Connor said.

"Good luck!" Pyrrha, Jaune, Ruby, and Yang said.

The two left the cafeteria, heading for the elevator to Ozpin's office.

* * *

"So what do you think of them?" Steven asked Connor on their way there.

"They seem nice. Is Ren usually that quiet?" He asked.

"Yeah, he's not much of a talker, but he's a nice dude. When he speaks he's usually the voice of reason for all of us."

"Jaune seems to me like he's got a big ego but not a lot to show for it." Connor observed.

"You're not far off the money there either. He tries really hard to be a great fighter, his family is full of accomplished warriors, leaving him large shoes to fill. He's not very good at fighting at all, but Pyrrha's helping him out. His leadership skills are really good though, those came naturally to him."

"I see." Connor said. "Other than that, Pyrrha is really nice, Ruby is energetic just like you are sometimes,"

Steven cut him off there for a moment. "I knew you'd make that connection."

"Blake is quiet, is she usually like that?"

"Yeah, but she was like that to all of us. She just needs to get to know you and she'll snap out of it."

"Weiss seems to be one of those holier-than-thou bitches to me."

"She _'s_ not _entirely_ like that. She originally came here to not have to work for her father's company to become a huntress, and she is willing to change to work with her teammates, and meet new friends. She does come up like that from time to time, but you'll get used to it. She isn't all that bad once you get to know her."

"Yang seems like the trouble maker of the group, and the practical jokester kind of type judging by her cheery personality."

"You're right on the money there again, Connor. She's really peppy all the time, but it's not the type that will get on your nerves. She means well. Also, she's really protective of Ruby, so careful about that." Steven chuckled, not about to mention the 'incident' several weekends ago. "Also, I know they're sisters, but I don't know where their relations are, as they don't really look alike, so your guess is as good as mine."

"Why didn't you ask them about it?" Connor asked.

"Well, I figured it was really personal or something, like a divorce and re-marriage or something, so I didn't want to bring that up if it was bad or something, and it is none of my business." Steven explained.

"Fair point." Connor concluded.

* * *

The two walked down the hallway a little bit further before Steven spoke up again. "Here, just around this corner." Steven directed him. They rounded the corner, and Steven walked over to an elevator door.

"Here's the elevator to Ozpins' office." Steven said. "Ready to go up?"

"About as ready as I'll ever be." Connor admitted.

At that, Steven pressed the elevator button and called the elevator. It didn't take long for it to come down before it opened its doors, and the two walked inside, before ascending up to the headmaster's office.

Once the elevator got to the top of its shaft, the doors slid open once more, and the familiar look and feel of the spacious office at the top of the tower came into view.

The two walked out of the elevator a few steps before they stopped and stood where they were, just getting out of the elevator so it wouldn't close on them, but not far enough where they would both be intruding any further on Professor Ozpin's call he was in with someone at the moment.

"Wait here." Steven said to Connor. Connor nodded.

"No, James, we _don't_ need all of this security." Ozpin insisted to the man on the other end of the call.

The other end of the call said something that the two couldn't make out from where they stood, not even with Connor's enhanced hearing.

"I don't care what the council says, the City will think something is afoot if you come in here with all of that!" Ozpin continued.

More mumbling came from the other end of the call.

"James, I know that, but…" He began, but he turned his head slightly upon noticing something in his peripheral vision to see Steven and Connor there. "I'll have to call you back; I have something that needs to be taken care of immediately. Tell your aunt Quinn that I loved her Ricotta pies" He finished.

From the other side of the call, a distinct "Yes, of course! I'll get right on that." could be heard, before the screen in front of Ozpin faded away in an instant.

Steven and Connor looked at each other with confused looks for a moment, before Connor shrugged and the two returned their attention to Ozpin.

"Good morning Mr. Paxton. Who is this you have brought with you?" Ozpin greeted him.

The two walked forward upon being acknowledged, stopping in front of his desk. Ozpin motioned for the two of them to sit down in the chairs in front of his desk.

"Professor, you remember how I came into this world, right?" Steven asked.

"I do." He confirmed. "Why do you ask?"

"Well…" Steven began. "This is my best friend, Connor, and he is also from Earth."

"Oh, really?" Ozpin asked, interested. His expression didn't really change much, showing more intrigue than shock or surprise.

"He came here in a similar way too. He just simply appeared here out of nowhere around the same time I appeared here." Steven added.

"Interesting." Ozpin said, his hand stroking his chin slightly. "And what have you been doing for the past few months, Connor, and where did you get one of my uniforms? I don't remember looking over your transcripts or test results."

"When I got here, I was just doing whatever getting by however I could. When I heard there was a combat academy here, and that I might as well start over, I tried to apply, but I was too late. So, I have been training ever since then, hoping to be able to get in next year." He began.

"Let me cut you off there for a sec there Connor." Steven interrupted. Connor nodded in approval. "This brings me to something I wanted to talk to you about. Do you know what happened last night at the docks Professor?"

"Yes, of course. You, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and one of the students from Vacuo fought off an attempted hijacking by the White Fang, and you were quite successful." He acknowledged.

"Right, and we wouldn't have been able to make it out of there if Connor hadn't shown up to get us out of a situation we were in." Steven admitted.

"Yes, I saw." Ozpin said.

"Now, last night was the first time we had seen each other since we woke up here, and after the police came and let us go, he told me he had nowhere to go, so I offered him one of the spare beds in my room, and this morning I gave him one of the spare uniforms in one of the closets." Steven finished.

"Is this true?" Ozpin asked Connor for the sake of making sure this was the correct information.

"Yes." Connor nodded.

"Interesting." Ozpin repeated. He took a few moments to think over this new information, before he spoke up again. "So, Connor, what do you plan on doing now?"

"Well, I was sort of hoping that…" He began. " _Maaayybe_ you'd let me try attending Beacon?" He said, grimacing a little bit as if he was preparing for some sort of blow to him.

Before Ozpin could say anything, Steven cut in. "Professor, I know it's really late into the first semester, but Connor has become a _really_ good fighter! Just look at the police footage of the incident! Not only that, but Connor was one of the smartest people back at our high school on Earth, and is perfectly able to catch up within a week or two." Steven vouched for him.

Ozpin smiled a little, but otherwise his expression hadn't changed much. "Well, alright." He said as if he was reluctant, which he really wasn't.

"Wait, really?!" Connor asked in surprise.

"Yes, really. Since you already have an idea of your own skills, and the way you fight, then all you need is the knowledge to catch up and improve. I'm sure Steven and his friends will help you out with that." He assured him.

Connor couldn't hide the excitement he was displaying even if he tried.

"Mr. Paxton, I will be placing him under your leadership, since there are no open teams other than yours. I'm sure you won't mind." Ozpin said with a smile.

"Of course not sir! I'll lead to the best of my ability, you can count on it!" Steven said with a determined demeanor.

"I'm sure you will." He concurred. "For now, your team will be known simply as team SC, for simplification purposes, until you can think of something that fits it well." He continued. "Connor, you will be provided with extra uniforms soon, as well as a scroll, and the Lien that all of the other students have already received. And, to see where you're at, we'll just give you Steven's schedule for the time being. Sound fair?"

"More than fair sir!" Connor exclaimed with excitement.

"Great. I'm expecting great things from you now that you're under your friend's leadership."

"I won't disappoint you!" Connor exclaimed with determination.

"Good to hear." Ozpin responded. "Now, the two of you should probably get to class, or you'll be late." Ozpin said.

"But wait," Steven began. "I have a couple more things I want to talk about with you."

"I'm afraid that will have to wait Mr. Paxton. I'm busy as it is at the moment with the Vytal festival coming up, so unfortunately your questions will have to wait." Ozpin apologized.

"Oh." Steven said, completely forgetting about the Vytal Festival coming up. "Right, we'll get out of your hair then. Let's go Connor." He said, as the two stood up.

"Thank you _so_ much Professor Ozpin!" Connor said, extending his hand to the headmaster for a handshake, which Ozpin accepted.

"You're very welcome, young man. Expect some papers to come by soon that I'll need you to fill out. They'll be in your room." He responded.

"Sure thing." Connor said.

"Have a good day, Professor." Steven said as the two walked back over to the elevator and exited the headmaster's office, then descending down the elevator shaft.

Ozpin was glad that he was able to get Steven out of his office. Steven wasn't ready to learn the truth just yet, especially with the recent introduction of one of his old friends. It would be quite some time before he was ready.

* * *

"Why did you tell him I was one of the smartest people at our old school?" Connor asked with confusion. "You and I both know that isn't nearly true. You know how much I suck at math!"

"A little white lie won't hurt anyone." Steven smiled. "Besides, I'm beginning to think he was honestly going to let you in even if I didn't speak up." The elevator doors opened. "Come on, we got to get to class. It's about to start."

"Right." Said Connor, before the two began to quickly walk to Professor Port's Grimm Studies class.

* * *

It was about 9:15 when they got there, having been in Ozpin's office for longer than they had thought. Class had officially begun about ten minutes ago.

The two walked up to the door, and Connor went to open it before Steven stopped him.

"When we go in there, follow my lead. We won't get into any trouble, I just don't want him to get the wrong idea in case RWBY and JNPR forgot to tell him when he took attendance, they've forgotten before." He rolled his eyes at the recollection. Connor nodded in acceptance of Steven's reasoning. "Alright, let's go." He finished, before opening the double doors as quietly as possible to disrupt the class as little as possible beyond his currently obvious intrusion.

The two walked in as Professor Port was on one of his famous rants.

"And when the Ursa was unlucky enough to walk in my trap!... Ho-Ho! Was he regretting his decisions! Upon the sight of my uncle Carl peeling-" He stopped upon seeing Steven and someone else he had never seen before walking into his class… Late… "Mr. Paxton. You're over ten minutes late to class. Care to explain yourself?"

"Sorry Professor. I had to go to Professor Ozpin's office to-" He began to explain.

"Oh-ho! To help out a new student I'm sure!" He finished for him, which was not entirely false, but it's all Steven needed to say and hear to get out of a potential detention or extra homework.

"Exactly." He finished.

"Good on you, boy." Port commended him. "Showing us the ways of a _true_ gentleman by helping those new to their surroundings adjust to them, and always making new friends. This reminds me of a story about my dear Uncle Charles. He was a strange man, always talking about how the moon was made of _cheese_ or something… But regardless, he was a true gentleman, with the way he…" Professor Port trailed off into another one of his rants.

Steven whispered over to his friend by his side "Now's our chance. Let's sit down."

The two walked over to the front of the class, and sat down in the only two open seats at the front of the classroom.

"Does he always do this sort of thing?" Connor whispered to Steven, careful not to say it loud enough for Port to hear him.

"Pretty much." Steven said with a sigh.

" _Great._ "

From the other side of the room at the front of their section was team RWBY. Ruby waved over to the two, trying to get their attention. When Steven and Connor noticed and turned their attention to her, she gave a double thumbs up as if asking 'Did it go well?'

Steven smirked before giving a single thumbs up and nodding. Ruby silently cheered in her seat, Yang having to hold her in her seat in order to prevent Professor Port from noticing her sister. Yang let up a thumbs up as well, congratulating Connor, who smiled gratefully in return.

* * *

The class was slow, as usual. Professor Port kept going on rant after rant as he was about to cover the material that they were probably very behind on by now, which is why he gave them so many readings and homework assignments to do each class.

"That was _terrible_." Connor grumbled as he and Steven left the class after the bell rang.

"Yeah, well you'll have to get used to it." Steven told him.

"I mean, I wouldn't mind _as_ much if his stories were any good or even interesting, but this guy doesn't even _touch_ the material!" Connor exclaimed.

"Honestly, that was actually one of his better classes. He actually kept his ranting to a minimum that time." Yang said as she walked up from behind them, walking with Ruby, Weiss, and Blake in tow.

"Yeah, he actually _tried_ to go over the readings today." Blake said, a little surprised herself.

"Well I like him." Weiss defended. "He certainly has a lot of experience and knowledge to offer."

"Yeah, well if he can just get to teaching us rather than reminiscing all the time, then maybe I'd enjoy his class a little more." Yang countered.

"So where are we going next?" Connor interrupted.

"First, we're going back to our rooms, and getting changed for Professor Goodwitch's combat class, then we're going to lunch before class." Steven told him.

"Aww yiss!" Connor exclaimed in excitement with a celebratory fist pump.

* * *

The six students then went back to their rooms to get changed before lunch, chatting along the way about their various classes and gossiping about their teachers.

When they arrived at the cafeteria team JNPR was already there, somehow having already changed and made it here before everyone else. Today's lunch was typical of most of the others, many of the students having some form of a sandwich that they preferred.

Once they were finished eating, Connor spoke up, curious about what to expect from Professor Goodwitch's class.

"So what should I expect from her class?" he asked everyone.

"Goodwitch's class is mostly about honing your abilities and improving upon your combat skills while learning new ones." Steven told him.

"We've been going over strengthening our defensive skills lately, so we're probably going to have some demonstration today." Jaune told him.

"Probably on dual-wielding too." Ren added. "She already did single-weapon defense."

"You should be fine with just observing for now. This weekend I'll catch you up on all of the stuff you missed." Steven said.

"Is there a lot?" Connor asked nervously.

"Yeah, but we won't go over _all_ of it, so don't worry." Steven reassured him.

"Ok good." Connor responded.

"We'll start with combat techniques that you may not be aware of."

"Oooh! Can I help?" Nora asked with an evil grin on her face, causing Connor to adopt a look of alarm.

"No, that's quite alright." Connor quickly put in.

"We'll let you know if we need the help, but don't let us get in the way of any of your weekend plans." Steven said.

"OK!" Nora exclaimed, believing Steven was serious.

Ren gave the two an apologetic look from in front of Nora where she couldn't see it.

"You know, we should probably get going. Class will be starting in about fifteen minutes." Jaune said, prompting some surprise from Yang.

"Whoa there, Jaune. When did _you_ become so studious?" She teased.

"Well, ever since Pyrrha started helping me out with my fighting, I can't seem to learn enough of it." He answered, prompting a beaming smile from Pyrrha at her recognition.

"He's right though." Steven added. "We all know how crowded the halls get when there's about ten minutes left before class leading out of the cafeteria."

Ruby shuddered as if it reminded her of a traumatic experience. It was over exaggerated, and comical, causing Steven to chuckle lightly.

"I'm all set. You guys ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Ruby answered.

" _Ooooh yeah_!" Yang responded.

"I'm all set" Weiss said.

"Me too." Pyrrha added.

"Do I get to break Cardin's legs?" Nora asked hopefully. Ren facepalmed.

Steven sighed, "Probably not. But, you never know." He added, prompting an evil grin from her face.

* * *

The ten of them went to Professor Goodwitch's combat class, ready for the day's lesson. They found out that Ren was indeed correct about his assumptions. Last class they had gone over single-weapon defense tactics, and today they were going to learn dual-weapon defense tactics, specifically for those who had either two weapons, or the ability to fight with two weapons depending on what they had. Having four people out of the ten of them using two weapons frequently, or having the ability of using two should they choose, those people being Ren, Yang, Steven and Connor, they made sure to pay attention. The other six payed attention too, it may come in handy to learn their friends' weaknesses, whether it's to help them or hinder them in a friendly match.

Steven and Yang were called up to help with demonstrations a couple of times, along with other students in the class.

Professor Goodwitch showed everyone various ways to deflect blows with two weapons, and how to counter some moves while in a defensive state, and quickly switching into an offensive one as a result of the action. They were also taught how to deflect some slower-moving projectiles, and defend against bullets should they be able to cover themselves with their weapons. To the dismay of all of the dual-wielders, they were also taught how to defeat a defense given by someone with dual weapons, which easily benefitted those who wielded a single weapon.

Steven was at a slight advantage against the other dual-wielders though. He wasn't a dedicated dual-wielder, he could choose to use his axe on its own, his sword on its own, or both when he wanted. But it allowed him flexibility as a result, which was always a good idea to have in a combat situation.

Towards the end of the class, Steven was helping Professor Goodwitch demonstrate a counter-offensive move that could turn the tides on your opponent with the help of Pyrrha, who was a single-weapon user, so it worked out nicely.

"Steven, Pyrrha, would you please demonstrate to the class a counter-offensive move with two weapons?" Goodwitch asked of them.

"Sure thing." Steven replied. He nodded at Pyrrha, who nodded in return, showing she was ready.

The two got into a ready stance, Pyrrha with her sword at the ready, and her shield in a defensive position, and Steven with his sword at his right side and his war axe at his left.

"Go." Goodwitch signaled them.

Pyrrha lunged at Steven's left with her sword, keeping her shield up to avoid a counter attack. Steven side stepped to his right slightly, letting the sword's blade slip by him, before he grabbed it with the inside of his axe. Pyrrha gasped as the axe was then pulled down and towards Steven, yanking the sword out of her right hand and thrown to the ground with tremendous strength. Pyrrha then tried to bash him with her shield to get him away from her sword to retrieve it, but Steven anticipated this and took the brunt of the hit with his right forearm, before spinning to the right slightly 360 degrees to hit Pyrrha in her exposed flank with his war axe while her shield was still covering her opposite side, keeping it there with his sword.

He didn't actually hit her, he just froze his axe right next to the side of her torso to simulate an actual impact. It was a demonstration after all. She froze, realizing the demonstration was over.

"Very good! Thank you for demonstrating these essential skills for the class." Goodwitch said. The two got back up and Pyrrha grabbed Milo off of the floor, before the two stood there politely watching and listening to the Professor's analysis of the demonstration. A replay of the demonstration then played on the large screen, which paused every time she willed it to. "Thanks to the amazing demonstration Steven and Pyrrha have provided us with, we can easily see how Steven is able to hook his axe onto Pyrrha's sword, and use the gap between the axe head and the handle to gain leverage over his opponents' weapon, and disarm them. We can then see Pyrrha's counter move, bashing Steven with her shield, which Steven is able to absorb the impact of on his forearm, using his aura to protect his arm form serious damage, before he turns it around on his opponent by spinning to Pyrrha's exposed side, and hitting her where she can't protect herself."

"Nice work there with that counter." Pyrrha complimented him.

"Thank you." He said with a smile.

"Steven, Pyrrha, you may leave the stage now." She granted them. "That's all of the material we will be covering today. We have enough time left in class to have one tournament-style dual. Who would like to have a go?" She asked the class.

No one raised their hand.

"There has to be _someone_." She said.

Since no one else was raising their hand, and she really wanted to test someone's skills in battle, Pyrrha put her hand up.

"Alright, since no one else is offering to fight, you will be one of the participants Ms. Nikos. Who do you wish to challenge?" Goodwitch asked.

Pyrrha put her finger to her chin, trying to "decide" on who her opponent would be. She hummed to help sell the charade, looking from Yang, who looked ready upon making eye contact, but quickly deflated as Pyrrha looked over to Jaune, who grew extremely nervous at the idea, but he calmed down when Pyrrha turned her gaze to Steven. "I challenge Steven." She stated, giving him a challenging stare.

"Mr. Paxton?" Goodwitch asked to make sure he was okay with the arrangement.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" Steven accepted. "I'm ready for round two." He joked, earning a short and small uproar of laughter from the class. Steven walked back onto the stage with Pyrrha, taking the positions they took before the demonstration they just did.

"You ready to lose?" Pyrrha asked as she got into a ready stance.

"As ready as I'll ever be. But I won't go down without a fight." Steven responded, getting into his own stance with his sword and axe by his sides. Pyrrha was a world class fighter. With his current skills, he stood no chance at winning. Instead, he decided he'd try to last as long as he could, and maybe wear her down enough to turn the tables if he was lucky, but he was expecting to lose. That didn't mean he wasn't going to try to win though.

"You know the rules of the match." Goodwitch began. "Get ready."

The buzzer sounded, and Pyrrha charged at Steven with her shield in front of her and her sword pointed at Steven's abdomen. Steven immediately recognized it as the maneuver she tried to pull during the demonstration, setting alarms off in his head. He couldn't accurately tell if he was being baited, but he had to assume he was, as he quickly dodged out of her way to the side with a roll. Pyrrha then stopped dead in her tracks as Steven dodged, and bashed him with her shield as he came out of his roll. Steven stumbled from the blow, allowing Pyrrha to make a horizontal slash at Steven's abdomen with Milo, before spinning with the swipe to kick Steven in the jaw.

Pyrrha was shocked when Steven caught her leg before it hit him in the face, dropping his axe to do so, causing her to freeze where she was, mid-attack. She tried to yank it out of his hand, but to no avail. Steven pushed up on her leg, forcing her to lose her balance and fall onto the ground. Then Steven realized he dropped his axe and quickly tried to grab it to capitalize on her vulnerable state.

Pyrrha saw what he was doing, and used her semblance on the handgun to throw it across the stage, causing Steven to dive for it in a futile effort to retrieve it before it was too far away.

Steven dove for it, trying to catch it, but was unable to, hitting the ground away from Pyrrha. She quickly got up and walked over to Steven as he rolled onto his back, just in time to block Pyrrha's strike with his sword across his chest. Needing to get out of the situation, Steven quickly pushed her away from him with his sword. She backed up slightly before trying to attack him again, but Steven was able to roll to the side to evade it before jumping back up.

He then swiped down on Pyrrha while she was still recovering from her strike, but Pyrrha brought her sword up to meet his. Steven then went for her side, but she got that with her shield before she jabbed at Steven's open point. Steven side stepped it and brought his sword under hers before thrusting up.

Steven took the opportunity to get some space to try a different strategy, and Pyrrha did the same.

They went back in, and repeatedly blocked, parried, and tried to disarm each other, and strike each other where they're vulnerable, but to no result each time.

Pyrrha forced him into that position as well, forcing him into the same situation time after time when he tried to get some space for a moment to think. She was honestly testing him, seeing how long he could last, and if he would be able to get out of his situation.

After a few rounds of this, Steven realized that she was purposefully putting him in this situation. He needed a way out. Not being able to disarm her, she wasn't making that mistake twice, or push away from him long enough to change things up, Steven looked to his sides and rear. His war axe was still on the ground to his back left. Realizing his opportunity, Steven quickly pushed Pyrrha back off of him, and ran at his axe, putting his sword on his back while Pyrrha gave chase.

Steven quickly grabbed the axe by the handle in his right hand as he continued running, and flipped the transformation switch, turning it back into its handgun variant. He then stopped and spun around and leveled it on Pyrrha.

Pyrrha didn't expect this, and was barely able to defend against the .50 caliber rounds that were shot at her with her shield. Steven walked towards her as he fired his gun, leaving her in place, unable to move. When he got right in front of her, he switched his Desert Eagle into its war axe and slammed it on Pyrrha's shield as hard as he could. Pyrrha stumbled back greatly from the tremendous force. Steven hit her shield hard, again and again, breaking down her defense little by little each time.

They weren't aware of it, caught up in the battle, but Pyrrha and Steven were actually very closely matched at this point. Pyrrha had 73% of her aura remaining, while Steven had 71%.

The force from Steven's hits were so great, that Pyrrha had to put away her sword, Milo, and brace her shield with both of her hands to keep him at bay. The brute force tactic was working as Steven forced Pyrrha into a heavily defensive situation on her part.

The next time Steven struck her, he decided to end his streak of blows, believing Pyrrha could have thought up a counter by now. With his next swing, he also decided to turn his torso into it, bringing his right leg out with him to trip her onto her side.

Pyrrha didn't know this, and it only made her situation worse when she used her semblance to turn the blade of the axe slightly so it just glides off of her shield, which would allow her a return blow, but it only accelerated Steven's movements as his leg swept her off of her feet, and onto the ground once more. Steven capitalized on this, letting his body fall right over her, slamming his elbow into her abdomen, just like he did to Cardin that one fateful day in the cafeteria.

Pyrrha grasped her stomach and groaned in severe pain, but she didn't tap out, she's been dealt worse.

Steven got up, and stepped back a bit for his next attack. He ran at Pyrrha, still dazed on the ground, and jumped into her, only to be struck by several rifle caliber bullets from Pyrrha's rifle variant of her sword which she took out without hesitation and shot at Steven. Steven continued over her with his inertia and tumbled when he hit the floor. He went with the tumble as best as he could, stopping himself on his hands and knees, slowly rising on his knee. Meanwhile Pyrrha got up quickly and had changed her rifle into her javelin. She aimed it at Steven's back, putting her left hand in front of her to aim her throw, before she threw the Javelin at Steven's back.

With no warning of the attack and therefore no time to react, Steven was brought back onto the ground with severe pain, the Javelin having imbedded itself in his armor that protected his back. Steven grasped at his back to try and take Pyrrha's javelin out of it in an attempt to get the metal from his armor to stop digging into his back, but Pyrrha did that for him, using her semblance to retrieve her javelin to her hands, and turning it back into its sword form. Pyrrha strode over to Steven, who had begun to get up again, although slower this time. She planted her foot on his back, right where the armor was pierced, pushing the broken metal further into his back. Steven tried to turn onto his back, but Pyrrha wasn't letting him move at all, her foot planted squarely and firmly in place on his back. He tried pushing himself up and off of the ground himself against Pyrrha's foot, trying to use his strength over hers, but she had it on his spine in such a place that it was nearly impossible to keep his back straight to be able to do it.

Steven was running out of options, and Pyrrha was just toying with him as he squirmed under her foot. Pyrrha was waiting to see what Steven would do, her sword at her side ready to strike should she need to.

Steven suddenly felt a surge of energy within him. He wasn't tired, and it wasn't adrenaline, this was something else, something that just _came_ to him.

Before Pyrrha could react to what was going on, Steven pushed off of the ground quickly, forcing Pyrrha to step off of him. She swung her sword at him, but she was struck with fear as Steven got up and spun around with inhuman speed, grabbing her sword mid-swing with his left hand with little to no effort, not once looking at it, instead staring into Pyrrha's terror-stricken eyes with his own. He stood there, holding her sword and herself in fear.

Pyrrha didn't know what was more frightening, the fact that Steven had gained so much strength out of nowhere, or the fact that she couldn't tell if it was hatred or determination burning in Steven's eyes. Pyrrha didn't move, unable to try and do something to counter him. Pyrrha didn't notice Steven bring his Desert Eagle right up to her abdomen until he fired the entire magazine of stun rounds (which were the only ammunition allowed during combat classes) into her. Pyrrha's aura took most of the damage, and the remainder was taken by her armor, but she was no less dazed by it. Steven never let go of her sword, though, forcing her to stay put as she was hit unless she let go of it herself. Once the magazine was empty, Steven quickly switched it to his war axe and swung at Pyrrha's side.

Having snapped out of her stupor, Pyrrha quickly blocked Steven's attack with her shield, deflecting the axe, before slamming the edge of the shield into Steven's wrist that was holding her sword.

Steven finally let go of the sword, grasping his wrist which was throbbing in pain. Steven switched his war axe to his handgun and holstered it, taking out his longsword off of his back. He charged at Pyrrha, who awaited him with her shield at the ready. She began to block every one of Steven's ferocious attacks on her. To gain the edge, she began to use her semblance to make minute adjustments to Steven's attacks, forcing small openings on Steven that he couldn't protect, which she exploited by attacking them. When his sword couldn't be manipulated enough, she'd use her semblance on Steven's metal gauntlets, forcing his arms into slight adjustments that would be hard to notice by anyone watching the battle.

Steven, however, was fully aware of this. He tried as hard as he could to counteract her moves to defend himself, but he couldn't fight against the extremely powerful force of magnetism. He soon realized that he couldn't, and that this would probably come down to a battle of semblances, rather than attrition.

With Steven's aura now standing at 48%, and Pyrrha's at 51%, the battle was still close.

Steven broke off from his aggressive string of attacks, the two of them taking a few steps back from each other. Steven twirled his sword as he turned it back into his assault rifle, and switched it to full auto. He then ran at her, while she stood her ground. Steven jumped onto her shield, which she tried to push him off of, but he used the force to propel himself over Pyrrha. In the air, Steven fired a steady stream of bullets into her exposed back. Pyrrha stumbled, but quickly recomposed herself and turned around.

She had decided that she was done toying around with Steven. He had easily proven himself as a very capable fighter, but this battle has gone on for too long, and she might actually lose if this goes on, and she has a reputation to keep.

Pyrrha used her semblance to take both of Steven's weapons and throw them far behind her, using enough force to throw them off stage and into the crowd of students watching their match, causing many gasps of surprise at the sheer image of Pyrrha disarming him in such a way that left him so few options.

Steven was certainly not happy with this, audibly growling like a pissed animal at Pyrrha. He ran at her with his fists clenched, and Pyrrha awaited him. He threw a punch towards her side, which she blocked with her shield, before jabbing Steven in the abdomen himself. He took the hit, and pretended it didn't hurt as he punched her hand holding her sword, causing her to drop it, before he did a roundhouse kick to her head.

Pyrrha was thrown to the ground from the sudden blow, and Steven stood over her, waiting for her to get up, his foot on top of her sword, preventing her from grabbing it. He forgot to take her semblance into account though, as she used it on her sword to pull it out from under him, causing Steven to slip on it and fall on his backside. She then got up and bashed her shield into his abdomen, keeping him down. To ensure he stayed down, she used her semblance to pin his gauntlets to the floor.

Before being able to use his position to her advantage, he somehow broke out of her semblance's grip as if it were made of simple paper. He rushed to get up and thrown Pyrrha on the ground, but stumbled as she sidestepped out of his way, bashing him on the back with her shield as he got up.

Steven turned around and ran at Pyrrha again, her shield still at the ready. Steven jumped in the air at Pyrrha. She responded by putting her shield up to force him to roll off of her, before jabbing at Steven when he went over her.

Steven then quickly got back up, just in time to block one of Pyrrha's sword swipes with his gauntlets, but unable to protect himself from a roundhouse kick from her left leg, which was proceeded with her bashing her shield into his head on his way down.

The buzzer sounded, Steven had lost, his aura now at 14%, Pyrrha's at 28%.

The startling noise stopped Pyrrha from continuing her attacks, and sheathing her weapons. Steven lay on the ground, panting at the massive amount of energy he used during the fight. Pyrrha walked over to him and offered her hand to help him up.

"Pyrrha Nikos is the winner!" Goodwitch said.

"Told you I would lose." Steven said humorously before accepting her offer. Pyrrha smiled.

"But you fought very well regardless." She pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess so." He said, not really counting it as a win for himself, but he knew he was going to lose from the start, but he still had some fun.

"You both fought very well. You'll be huntsmen in no time at this rate." Goodwitch said to the two of them before turning to the rest of the class, and began explaining areas of improvement they both could make and examples of good use of techniques to the class using the replay footage. "Next class you will learn how to fight with your hands should you be disarmed, or your weapon is unavailable. Class dismissed."

With their dismissal, the class began to shuffle out of the classroom, many heading to dinner, others to bed. Steven and Pyrrha talked on the way back to their group of friends and teammates that awaited them.

"That was really good fighting, Steven." Pyrrha complimented him. "I had no idea you were going to disarm me so many times." She laughed at her mistake.

"But your semblance made it a futile effort." Steven chuckled.

"True." She concurred. "Sorry about throwing your weapons into the crowd." She apologized with a nervous smile.

"As long as they're not broken, it's fine." He reassured her. Pyrrha internally hoped they really _weren't_ broken.

When the two of them met up with their friends, Ruby yelled "Catch!" to Steven, throwing his sword to him. Steven caught it, flipping the switch in and putting his assault rifle on his back in one fluid motion.

"Thanks!" He said to Ruby, who smiled happily. "Anyone see my pistol?" he asked the rest. Everyone shook their heads no, and Steven looked around on the floor, but couldn't find it.

Pyrrha was horrified, unsure of how Steven was going to react to her, especially since she might now what Steven is like when he's angry if that's what happened back in their fight. "I'm sorry!" She apologized sincerely.

"Don't worry about it; I'm sure it will show up soon." He reassured her. He was bummed out that he couldn't find it, but he didn't worry about it, it would have to turn up eventually. The only thing that was hard on his mind was his hunger. "I'm starving. Let's go get something to eat." He suggested to everyone, who agreed with his idea.

* * *

The ten of them went to the cafeteria for some well-earned dinner. There they talked about their fighting skills, Ruby and Nora recalling the details with enthusiasm, begging Steven and Pyrrha to teach them some of their skills. When the conversation changed topics, Ruby would appear slightly on edge, jumping at the smallest of things, as if she was overdosed on sugar again. But she hadn't had anything too sugary for a little while, so it was a little strange.

* * *

That night, team RWBY relaxed in their dorm. Ruby had already finished her homework. Blake was reading, Yang was procrastinating, and Weiss was hard at work with her assignments. Ruby was bored, her teammates not wanting to do anything because 'It was late', or they were 'too tired' or because 'it's a school night'. Frustrated, Ruby left the room with one extra item than usual, headed for the firing range before it was closed for the night.

* * *

Upon arriving there, not a single person was around, as it was actually pretty late. Ruby didn't care though, she preferred the privacy.

Ruby walked up to the firing line and took out Steven's Desert Eagle from behind her, which she had awkwardly kept behind Crescent Rose the whole night. She didn't like to think of what she was doing as stealing, she was going to give it back to him tomorrow, place it on his desk at some point or something when he wasn't around. She just wanted to play around with it. She did the same with Yang's Amber Celica's before, and even Blake's Gambol Shroud, and they had no idea that she did it. She once even tried to take Magnhild from Nora, but quickly realized she valued her life too much to attempt such an act.

Ruby loaded Steven's handgun and aimed it at the target before squeezing the trigger and experiencing the thrilling feeling of the recoil and the loud noise of the gun, which had been dampened greatly since she last heard it in the firing range, but it was still really loud. She giggled to herself, geeking out over the gun like she does with all new guns she finds. She kept firing the gun until the magazine was empty, smiling from ear to ear the whole time.

She lowered the gun after it was empty, switching on the safety. She felt content, and happy, and was satisfied with firing the gun on her own, albeit without permission, but details, details.

She was taken out of her happy state when an unexpected voice sounded from behind her, causing her to yelp in surprise.

"You know, you could've just asked to borrow it." Steven chuckled from behind her, comfortably leaning with his back against a wall with his arms crossed, a small grin on his face.

Ruby quickly turned around, surprised. "I, I-uh, I-I didn't mean to-uh, I just wanted to-, you see I just-" She stuttered heavily, trying, but failing, to come up with an excuse.

"I'm not mad Ruby." He chuckled.

"Y-you're not?" She asked, confused.

"No, not at all." He answered. "I'm actually a little amused." He said, chuckling again.

Ruby giggled nervously. "Heh, s-sorry." She said, giving him a nervous smile, handing his gun out to him.

Steven gently took his gun from Ruby and held it in his right hand by the barrel. "Have fun with it?"

"Yes!" She replied instantly. "It's SOOO cool!" she admitted.

Steven chuckled again. No one could possibly be mad at Ruby, she was just too innocent and cute to be mad at, and it was mostly simply due to her being so young at 15 years old. "Here," He said, holding the gun back out to her. "Have another go at it."

Ruby stared at Steven with wide eyes in disbelief. " _Really?!_ "

"Of course! Go ahead." He replied, extending his reach to her with the gun in his hand to emphasize he wanted her to take it and have some more fun.

Ruby gleefully took it from his outstretched hand, and turned back over to the targets on the range. Steven came off of his position from the opposite wall, and walked over to Ruby, teaching her how to use the weapon. He taught her how to hold the weapon, how to position her arms, her stance, how to operate it, all the good stuff.

Ruby had a blast, being the weapons aficionado she is, and was geeking out every time she fired the gun, reloaded, or just played around with it. It was very amusing to Steven, and it put a smile on his face, knowing that he is still able to put a smile on someone's face. He enjoyed making sure others have fun, even if it's at his expense. The fact he realized he could still do this, meant a lot of things to Steven. It mostly meant to him that his life was turning back around now. He had been reunited with his best friend, Connor, met even more amazing friends, and was now living the life he could only dream of on Earth. Things were starting to look up for Steven again, and it was great!

The two were at the range until Professor Goodwitch herself had to go down there and tell them to go back to their dorm rooms so that the range could close, and were threatened with detention for the rest of the semester (about two weeks), and extra homework, which is something they didn't need right now. The two put up no fight, and proceeded back to their rooms to hit the hay for the night.

* * *

When the two arrived at their dorm rooms, they said their goodnights, and parted for the night, heading into their respective rooms. Ruby left with the same feelings she had from the trip to Vale the two had a while ago. She had thought immensely about her feelings for him in the time since then, but she still was indecisive about them, and unsure about how he would receive it. So she kept thinking about it, deciding to hint at it as little as possible to _anyone, especially_ Steven, even subliminally, until she was sure.

* * *

When Steven walked into his room, he was welcomed by Connor, who was sitting at one of the desks in the room working on his homework to the best of his ability, considering today was his first day.

"I thought you were going to the bathroom! You've been gone for half an hour! And why didn't you use _our_ bathroom?!" Connor asked, annoyed, and admittedly slightly worried.

"Hey, man. You can't rush perfection!" Steven replied.

"That doesn't even answer my question!" Connor retorted.

"Eyy, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, ammiright?" Steven returned, purposefully not making any sense. Connor just gave him a 'now you're making no sense and I honestly don't even want to know what the hell you were doing anymore at this point' look, giving up. And yes, there really _is_ a look for that if you know Connor long enough. His face can say a lot about what he is thinking or what he is about to say, and you learn them rather quickly.

The two went to bed soon after, as it was rather late and they still had classes in the morning to worry about.

* * *

In general, the remaining two weeks or so of the semester went on without incident. Connor was quickly brought up to speed, in remarkable time, and was already performing on par with the rest of the class in most of his subjects, except math. He hated math, and math seemed to hate him.

* * *

There was a one week gap between semesters, and students were free to do as they pleased in that time. They could go home to see relatives, or simply stay here at Beacon until the second semester began. Steven and Connor, Ren and Nora, and Blake had nowhere to go; they had no home to go back to, so they stayed. Weiss had to go back home, especially in the wake of an attempted robbery of an entire shipment of her father's company, so she had some company business to attend to, which was understandable. Pyrrha lived in Mistral, so if she left and came back before school resumed, she would only have a few days to spend with her family. Jaune lived in Vale with his entire family, but he decided to stay at Beacon to keep the others company. Ruby and Yang were going to go home to their hometown of Patch, just outside of Vale, but their father had to go on a mission at the last second, so the two sisters stayed at Beacon, the only person leaving being Weiss, but they were okay with it.

They didn't do much with their week long break, other than preparing for the next semester, going to Vale a few times, and generally just hanging out with each other in their rooms. Many things were on everyone's mind, be them secretly or visibly. Everyone had their questions about the future, most of them just inquisitive or hopeful, but some were fearful, and afraid. Blake's were one such example. Ever since that fateful night at the docks, she couldn't stop thinking about why the White Fang would _possibly_ be working with a human, especially since their very existence was distinguished by hating humanity so heavily. These thoughts would soon start to haunt her every hour she was awake.

As the week went on, students from the other three kingdoms finished coming over for the tournament and the festival that was almost in full swing. The otherwise empty dorms were filled to capacity, and the culture was amazing.

No one could have missed the day the entire student population of the Atlas academy arrived in Vale, arriving with a small detachment of their vast airship fleet. They brought several of their colossal battleships with them, floating over the city, many small airships spawning from them, bringing the students down to the airship docks of the school, some of the battleships themselves even hovering parallel to the landing pads to offload students. One could easily mistake it as an invasion of a foreign army, what with the whole show of military power the kingdom of Atlas was displaying here in a foreign kingdom, but luckily the world knew that Vale's council requested that Atlas bring some of their military with them to help with protection during the Vytal Festival.

It was certainly a spectacle to behold.

* * *

On the day of Atlas' arrival, which was a couple days before the beginning of the semester, up in Beacon's tower, Ozpin's office, the headmaster himself and his assistant, Professor Goodwitch, sat staring out the window towards the giant Atlesian airfleet just outside of their school, and over the city. It would be an understatement to say they were unhappy with this turn of events, especially with what was going on and how it could ruin so many plans.

" _Ironwood certainly loves bringing is work wherever he travels._ " Goodwitch said angrily through gritted teeth.

"Well… running an academy and a military makes him a busy man." Ozpin replied. "But, yes, those are a _bit_ of an eyesore." He admitted.

On Ozpin's desk, a small screen flashed, telling him someone was ascending the elevator, and asked to enter his office. The two turned around from the window and began to walk in front of the desk to meet whoever was ascending the elevator.

"Come in." Ozpin said as he strode in front of his desk.

The elevator opened, revealing a well-dressed and clean man. He was tall, and wore a white military uniform that showed high rank. He also wore a gray undercoat, black sweater, a red necktie under the white jacket, and a white glove on his right hand. His hair is black, with some silver and gray areas, while his eyebrows are solid black. He has a strip of silver metal above his right eyebrow.

"Ozpin!" General Ironwood greeted.

"Hello, General." Ozpin returned.

"Please, drop the formalities." The General insisted, striding over to Ozpin to meet him half way, and shake his hand like an old friend would. "It's been too long." he said. Professor Goodwitch was now next to Ozpin as well. "and Glynda!" He continued. "It has _certainly_ been too long since we last met!"

" _Oooh,_ James…" She said waving her hand over her head in dismissal. She turned to Ozpin, "I'll be outside." She said, and strode to the door leading out of his office. She clearly despised Ironwood, that much was quite evident.

"Well she hasn't changed a bit." Ironwood said.

"So… what has brought you all the way down from Atlas?" Ozpin asked, turning back and walking to the front of his desk to pour two mugs of coffee, one for himself, one for Ironwood. "Headmasters don't typically travel with their students to the Vytal Festival."

Ironwood accepted the mug of coffee Ozpin gave him. "Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year." He replied, taking a small flask out from inside his coat and pouring some of the contents into his coffee, before putting it back. "Besides, with _you_ hosting, I thought this might be a good opportunity for us to… catch up."

Ozpin walked behind his desk to sit down, and Ironwood walked to the front, preferring to stand. "I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends… however, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned."

"Well… _concern_ is what brought them here."

"I understand travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult." Ozpin began.

"Oz…" Ironwood cut him off. "You and I both know _why_ I brought those men."

Ozpin took a long sip from his coffee mug, letting out a deep sigh as he set the mug back down on the desk. "We are in a time of peace! Shows of power like this… are just going to give off the wrong impression."

"But if what Qrow said is true then-"

"If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it tactfully." He assured him. "It's the Vytal Festival, a time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

"I'm just being cautious."

"As am I, which is why we will continue to train the best hunters and huntresses we can." Ozpin replied.

"Believe me, I am." Ironwood countered. He then turned around and began walking towards the elevator door to leave.

He got about halfway, before Ozpin spoke up. "He's back."

Ironwood stopped dead in his tracks, slowly turning around. " _Who's_ back?" he asked cautiously.

"The Halfblood has returned to Remnant." Ozpin said.

"What? That's impossible." He dismissed him. "Ever since _she_ died, he disappeared into dust knows where, and now all of a sudden _it's_ back?"

"Indeed." Ozpin said.

"Does it know?" was all Ironwood could ask.

"No, he's unaware of what happened. He doesn't remember a thing, and has only just begun to unlock his powers." Ozpin told him. "He's not ready to know the truth yet, but he will be in due time."

"I hope that time is sooner rather than later." Ironwood said, turning back around and heading back to the door elevator door again. "We don't want to have our students fighting in a war." Ironwood said, very seriously.

"I hope they never have to." Is all Ozpin could say.

* * *

 ** _END OF ACT I_**

* * *

 _The Vytal Festival was almost upon Vale, bringing with it culture, fun, and worldwide celebrations of peace and unity. However, the Festival brought one thing with it that no one thought possible in the 40 years the Festival has been celebrated… Evil._

 _With the second semester right around the corner, and with spirits high, and Weiss having returned from her trip, they were all excited to get back into the swing of things. Little did they know, their second semester would be unlike anything they could ever imagine, in both good ways and bad ones._

 _Soon, Steven's world will come crashing down again, proving that he may not be in control of his destiny like he once thought he was in the beggining of Act II with Chapter 11: It's a small Universe._

* * *

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope to see you back in a couple of weeks! have a good life until then, and remember, I am seeing this story through to the end. You all can count on it.**

 **And I'd like to once again thank you all for over 5 THOUSAND views, over 50 Followers, and almost 50 Favorites! I cannot emphasize enough how much that means to me! You all are awesome, and I will be sure not to disappoint you all with Act II, which will immediately begin next chapter!**

 **Dont forget to submit your idea for the little contest i'm doing! just remember the rules (which are at the top) and be sure to send it to me via PM or a review!**

 **As always, dont feel afraid to leave a review with a question, suggestion, or just about anything else, regardless if its a submission to my little contest!**

 **I'll see you all in two weeks! have a good time until then!**


	12. Chapter 11: It's A Small Universe

**Hello everyone! Time for another chapter! I hope you guys really like this one.**

 **Time to answer some reviews! There's only one this week, but that's completely fine! Keep sending in reviews guys! put in questions, comments, just about anything, and I'll respond to it as best I can!**

 **Alvaerin:** **Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you liked it! I know the update schedule isnt exactly ideal, but I'm not giving up on this story any time soon. You'll love this chapter, I'm sure of it!**

 **WARNING! THIS CHAPTER GETS VIOLENT AT THE END! VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED**

* * *

 **ACT II:**

 **CELEBRATIONS, REVELATIONS, AND INVASIONS**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: It's a Small Universe**

* * *

It was the day before the second semester began, the last day of their short break, but also a time for small celebrations. They had made it a full semester through Beacon, all of them, and they had reason to be proud. Especially with what they have accomplished during the semester that was certainly not expected, such as fighting giant Grimm in initiation, meeting a boy from another world entirely, making friends that would last them a life time, fighting against evil, and meeting _another_ boy from a different world. Teams RWBY and JNPR certainly didn't expect anything like this to happen, but they welcomed it. It only would serve to make them stronger in the end. Not only that, but Connor and Steven have been really great friends, and they all wished the bests for the two, some more than others of course.

Ruby had an agenda today. She had already decided that this was going to be the best last day of their one-week vacation ever! Whether anyone outside team RWBY wanted to join or not was up to them, but as team leader of team RWBY, she was going to make sure she and her team had a good last day.

* * *

In the cafeteria, the hall was full of exchange students from the other kingdoms, all there for the Vytal Festival and Vytal Tournament towards the end of the semester. Those not from Beacon wore their respective school's uniforms to distinguish who was from where. Students from Atlas wore bright white military-like coats, and had a very respectful demeanor, but were still relaxed and laid back like the teenagers they still were. Those from Mistral's Haven Academy wore black suits and pants, or long skirts in the girls' case, with a white trim around the collar, cuffs, and center. Students from Vacuo's Shade Academy wore whatever they pleased. Vacuo was a more laid-back sort of place to begin with. Just look at Sun who always wears an unbuttoned shirt, displaying his chest for everyone because its comfortable for him. He may not be attending Shade Academy, but Haven made an exception for him because of his culture.

Team RWBY sat at their usual table, while Team JNPR sat at the table across from them, facing them. There was no one in between them, they made sure of that. They were separated for the sole purpose of Nora flicking grapes over the gap of the tables with a spoon at Yang, who would catch them with her mouth with ease.

Blake sat at the table, staring at her personal notebook, her mind wandering many, many questions, and whether or not she should say something about it to her team. Since they promised that they would always be there for her, something no one has done for her in a _long_ time, she's been internally debating whether or not she should tell them more about her past, especially since they seemed to not care about her being a former member of the now evil White Fang, they only cared that she wasn't a member now, and was a member of their team instead. Inside her notebook was literally her past, her life, how she felt about everything. It was kept with her other books, in one of the bookshelves, but she knew no one would read it. They all respected each other's privacy, something Blake came to like early on, and hadn't bothered to ask her about it because it wasn't any of their business, and it wasn't having a negative effect on her, so it wasn't a problem. However, she has been looking at it a _lot_ more ever since that night on the docks, and everyone had taken note of that. She couldn't get her mind off of one question: Why were the White Fang working with a human, with Roman Torchwick for that matter?

Blake stared at her notebook, two pages in particular. On them was a drawing of a Rose, not quite like Ruby's emblem, it featured a rose on a stem with a single leaf and a thorn on it. On the other page was a sketch of the White Fang emblem, the sideways tiger face with three claw marks behind it, and a picture of a man as well. Who it was, only Blake knew, but the others would learn who it was, in time.

Yang noticed she was entranced in her book, and decided to slide up next to her partner.

"Whatcha doing?" She asked. Weiss appears on the other side of Blake as well, wondering the same thing.

"Nothing" She answers before closing her book. "Just going over notes from last semester."

"Lame." Said Yang before catching one of Nora's grapes in her mouth, giving the energetic redhead a thumbs up from across the tables.

Ruby walks over to the table, heaving a giant 5" binder filled to the brim with papers onto the table, and slamming it against the table, catching everyone at said table off guard. On the cover of the binder the words "Vytal Festival Activities, Property of Weiss Schnee" were printed on a piece of paper and inserted behind the protective plastic sleeve on the cover. Those words were hastily crossed out however, and the words "Best Day Ever Activities" was written underneath in Ruby's handwriting.

Ruby cleared her throat, and gestured towards everyone at the table. "Sisters…. Friends…. Weiss…"

" _Hey_!"

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream." She began. She took the liberty of taking various things from famous Earth speeches. Steven had been teaching them about Earth's history, being the huge history buff he is, to anyone who had asked him about it. He took a lot of pride in it, and they enjoyed learning about it. She especially liked Abraham Lincolns' Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech, hence the reason she decided to start with a combination of the two.

"This oughta be good." Yang said to the other two members of team RWBY before catching another grape in her mouth.

"A dream that one day, the four of us will come together, as a _team_ , and have the most fun anyone has ever had… _ever_!" Ruby continued.

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss interrupted, noticing the cover.

Ruby makes two peace signs with her hand before saying "I am not a crook." Which was a blatant Richard Nixon reference.

"What are you talking about?" asked Blake, getting back to what Ruby was here for.

"I'm talking about kicking off our semester with a bang!" Ruby said, pointing her finger at Blake.

Yang quickly took the opportunity she was given. "I always kick my semesters off with a _Yang_! Eh? Guys? Ammiright?" Everyone deflated with her pun. She was relentless with her puns, and always took the opportunity to make one when chance presented itself.

An apple was thrown at Yang's face, which prompts her to glare over at Nora, who was boo-ing her pun from across the two tables.

Ruby continued on. "Look guys, it's been a good week and a half, and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great! But classes start back up tomorrow! Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today."

Weiss commented "I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store."

Yang was still glaring at Nora, and threw her own apple over at Nora, but hit Jaune by accident, causing Nora to giggle quite a bit.

Blake's mind was still on the White Fang. She couldn't get it off her mind, and didn't really want to do much of anything except just figure out what was happening. "I don't know. I think I might sit this one out."

Weiss wouldn't allow that on her watch, but she couldn't blame her on the subject of Ruby's potentially… _questionable_ plans that she had made. "Sit out or not, I think that however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team!"

Nora could be heard from across the tables "I got it!"

Weiss continued "I for one think that-" she was interrupted by a pie landing on her face, thrown by Nora, and was planned for Yang. Nora quickly sits down and points at Ren in blame, who has his face in his palms.

* * *

Outside the cafeteria, Sun Wukong was walking towards the entrance with his teammate and partner, Neptune Vasilias, the N in team SSSN, which is led by none other than Sun himself.

Neptune has tan skin, dark blue eyes and messy light blue hair that is shaved on the sides and in the back in an uppercut. He wears a white dress shirt and black tie under a red jacket with a wide, upturned, black collar and a pair of gray jeans with black padding strapped to the sides. The back of his jacket displays a silver reticle, which is his emblem. He wears black shoes that are fastened with straps, rather than laces, black fingerless gloves and a pair of yellow-tinted goggles worn on his forehead.

Sun was telling Neptune about the events that unfolded the night at the docks, and how he met team RWBY, Steven, and Connor.

"Man, that's harsh!" Neptune commented as Sun was telling him about Torchwick.

"I know, we were fighting side by side. She was super fast and I threw a banana at the guy, which sounds gross, but it was _awesome_!" Sun continued.

" _Niiiice!_ " Neptune said.

"Right? And the best part it, she's a Faunus. But that's a secret, okay?" He quickly said, realizing his slip up.

"Got it."

Sun leaned closer to Neptune, emphasizing the seriousness of the secret. "And not a 'I'm going to go tell Scarlet and Sage the second Sun turns his back secret', I'm talking _secret_ secret."

"Whoa, chill out, man, okay? I got it."

"You better." He said before they continued on past the window of the cafeteria. As Sun continued, neither of the two noticed the food splattering against the window, the students running for the exit, or Jaune splatter across the window before sliding to the floor. "I just don't want to screw this up, you know?" He explained. "The people here are the _coolest!_ No offense to you guys." He quickly added.

"None taken."

The two stopped in front of the main doors leading into the cafeteria.

"They're just in here. I'm _really_ excited for you to meet them. So be cool, okay? You're gonna be cool, right?" Sun asked.

"Dude." Neptune said with his arms crossed and his face smiling, his teeth gleaming as he smiles.

"Good point." Sun conceded.

The two open the doors to see students running past them as quickly as they could, running away from the terror that was a food fight between teams RWBY and JNPR. Neptune looked terrified, while Sun looked quite excited.

Across the cafeteria, tables and chairs were stacked high, and Nora Valkyrie was standing triumphantly on the top while the rest of Team JNPR stood at the base, and team RWBY stood ready at the opposite end of the room.

"What the hell did we just walk into?" Neptune asked nervously.

* * *

Steven and Connor walked out from their dorms' entrance, heading to the cafeteria for breakfast with their friends, who were already there ahead of them. They took a bit to get up this morning, well, Connor did. He never really was one to be able to wake up easily in the morning, especially this early. Steven told everyone to go ahead, and that they'd catch up to them soon. Connor had eventually gotten out of bed, taken a shower, and gotten dressed while Steven waited patiently for him, playing some Solitaire on his scroll. They then left, and here they were.

"So since you've been here just as long as I have, I'm assuming that you've heard about the Vytal Tournament?" Steven asked him as they walked at a leisurely pace towards the cafeteria across the campus.

"Yeah, I thought we already established that. Why?"

"It just hit me earlier that we won't be able to participate in it." Steven said sadly. "We don't have a full team."

"That's where you're wrong." Connor interjected.

"Huh?"

"You didn't hear? Out of all people I thought _you'd_ know about this."

"Hear what?" Steven asked, confused.

Connor sighed as he facepalmed for a moment. "You're telling me that you, a student at Beacon Academy, was not told that they added the singles and randoms event this year?"

"WHAT?! What are they?!" Steven quickly asked.

Connor chuckled. "They added single battles between the main fights. They don't count towards the actual tournament rankings, and are only for fun. Anyone can join from the academies; they don't need to try out for the tournament itself for them. Random battles are similar in the way they don't count towards rank or standing, and anyone can join, but you are paired up with three other hunters and huntresses and fight against four other randomly selected hunters and huntresses. The challenge is battling with three other people you've never met before, coming up with strategies on the fly, and working together without having worked with any of those people before." Connor explained. "Plus, people who are entered in the main event aren't allowed to be in those battles, as that would be unfair, and could potentially provide an advantage to some if they were to battle a team member who they were going to be fighting next."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I thought you knew!"

"Eh, I'll give you that one." Steven conceded. "Although, that makes me _really_ happy now. We should definitely enter those events!"

"I agree."

"Man, just thinking about it makes me _excited_! Just think about the people we'll be fighting with and against! I bet-" Steven began, but was cut off as they looked ahead at the cafeteria in time to see Yang flying of the roof of the building at an unprecedented speed, leaving a gaping hole where she exited from.

"Did Yang just…" Connor began.

"Come on, something might be wrong." Connor nodded, and they ran over to the cafeteria quickly. They may not have their weapons and armor on them, but that didn't mean they couldn't fight without them.

* * *

When they got over there and quickly opened the doors, running inside, they quickly stopped next to where Sun and Neptune stood. Sun had an amused look on his face, while Neptune looked quite upset to say the least. He was plastered with various different colors and flavors of everything from the food fight they just witnessed. If it wasn't clear already, when Steven and Connor looked at the rest of the room, and saw the many tables, benches, silverware, platers, and foodstuffs destroyed or plastered against the opposite wall, they saw the entirety of team JNPR slide off of the opposite wall, previously blending in with the large splatter, and onto the ground, tired and worn out.

Steven and Connor stood with shocked looks, but for different reasons.

Connor was disappointed. "Come on, why couldn't _I_ have been a part of this?!"

Ruby landed on the ground, and the rest of team RWBY, minus Yang, helped up team JNPR, giggling and laughing as they did so, while team JNPR groaned in pain a little, before joining in with the laughing themselves.

Professor Goodwitch barged through the doors unexpectedly. Causing Steven and Connor, and Sun and Neptune to separate to let her go in between them. She was pissed to say the least, and if it wasn't evident in her facial expression and gritting of her teeth, then it was shown in the way she hastily and angrily walked over to the mess. She uses her semblance to correct everything in the room, beginning with the silverware and plates before she picks up the broken tables and benches in a tornado of debris, which are quickly repaired and reassembled, and put into their rightful place. She then fixes the pillar that they somehow broke, and the giant crater in the wall that team JNPR just fell down from, before fixing the roof.

She put the last few tables in their rightful place before sighing angrily, trying with all she could to not lash out at them.

"Children, please. _Do not play with your food._ " She said in a deathly serious tone. The two teams try to compose themselves, but when Nora burps aloud they all lose it, laughing aloud, and relishing in the fun they just had. Yang then descends from the sky, making another hole in the roof, before she lands on one of the benches next to team RWBY, making them laugh even harder. Yang stood up and gave a thumbs up to Professor Goodwitch, who grumbles in return.

Ozpin walks in from behind her and places a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Let it go." He tells her.

Goodwitch sighs, and speaks to him in a tone only Ozpin can hear, not wanting any of the four students around them to hear them. "They're supposed to be defenders of the world."

"And they will be, but right now they're still children." Ozpin reasons. "So why not let them play the part?" Ozpin turns around, and begins to head for the door before stopping again. "After all, it isn't a role they'll have forever."

* * *

In a warehouse somewhere outside of Vale, Roman Torchwick looked at his map of Vale, scheming and planning as usual. Behind him, White Fang were moving various crates of varying sizes, all filled with dust and weapons.

He turns around to see Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black coming in.

Emerald Sustrai is a young woman with medium-brown skin and dark-red eyes. Her hair is a light, mint-green cut with a straight fringe and bangs, as well as two long locks on each side, in the back. She wears two bronze-colored rings on her middle fingers as well as a pair of high-heeled shoes. She also wears an intricate white top and a cropped olive-colored undershirt, on the back of which is her personal emblem. This emblem is in the shape of a cut gem, referring to her name. She also wears a gold, three-ring armband on her left arm and a string of gold beads near the same wrist. She also wears white pants and brown chaps that end at her calves and an overlong belt, twice-wrapped, where she keeps her weapons as well as a single pouch. Emerald is a skilled thief, for reasons unknown, but is a very powerful fighter when she needed to be.

Mercury Black had gray hair, partially slicked back while unkempt at the front. He also wears a slate gray and black two-tone partial-zip jacket that covers his upper body. He has silver-gray eyes, and wears a single notched belt with what appears to be a sash or bandana draped over it. Protecting his arms are sets of rerebraces and vambraces. He also wears black pants and a pair of shoes. His armor hides what appear to be oddly-shaped scars on the outer sides and backs of both of his arms.

"Oh, look! _She sent the kids again_!" Roman said as he put his arms around their necks for a forced group hug. "This is turning out just like the divorce." He said, referring to his past marriage to someone else unknown by either of the two.

Emerald shivers in disgust. "Spare us the thought of you procreating."

Emerald and Mercury then pull away from Roman, who walks off to where he stood a minute before.

" _That_ was a joke. And _this_ …" He said, holding up a piece of paper that he had taken from Emerald's pocket without her noticing. " _just_ might tell me where you two have been all day."

"What? How did-" Emerald said, wondering how Roman got the piece of paper from her.

"I'm a professional, sweetheart. Pay attention and you might learn something." He chided her. He stared at the address written on the piece of paper, '282, 27th Street'. Roman's tone turned serious and suspicious. "Why do you have this address?"

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" Emerald replied smugly.

"Yeah, I would. Now where have you been all day?" He restated his question.

"Cleaning up _your_ problems." Mercury replied. " _One_ of them, at least."

" _I had that under control._ " Roman said angrily through gritted teeth.

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise." Mercury replied.

"Listen, you little punk." Roman said, getting in his face. "If it were up to me, then I would take you and your little street rat friend here and-"

"Do _what_ , Roman?" a fourth voice interrupted them. From one of the balconies of the warehouses' second level, a woman walked up to the railing, standing on an automated lift briefly before she rode it down to the ground level. The woman has ashen-black hair that fell to her shoulders and went over her left eye, and bright amber eyes, while her fingernails are painted dark red. She wears a dark-red, off-the-shoulders, v-neck minidress with yellow designs. There is a blue feather-like accessory on her right hip, at the top of an open portion of her dress. The dress ends in an upside-down triangular tail in the back, ending just above the knees. There is a baseball diamond-shaped keyhole on the dress' upper back at the same height as her chest. The sleeves end in a triangle shape, which are wrapped or tied around her middle finger, with the gold designs of the sleeve taking over at the wrists. She wears black shorts underneath her dress, as well as a black choker on her neck. She wears a gold loop earring with a black gem dangling from it on her right ear. She has dark, glass, high-heeled shoes and a jeweled anklet on her right leg.

"I'd, uh… _not_ kill them?"

"Cinder!" Emerald said excitedly.

The woman's name, Cinder Fall, was not her real name. But she didn't tell anyone. It was a secret she was forced to keep, or else suffer dire consequences.

"I thought I made it clear that you would eliminate the would-be runaway." Cinder said.

"I was _going to…_ " He began, but was interrupted by Emerald.

" _He_ was going to escape to Vacuo! Mercury and _I_ decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat."

"I think he was some sort of cat, actually." Mercury added.

"What? Like a Puma?" She played along.

"Yeah, there ya go."

"Quiet." Cinder said, silencing the two immediately. "Did I not _specifically_ instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?" Roman points a finger at the two while silently laughing behind Cinder.

"I just thought…" Emerald began.

"Don't think… _Obey._ " Roman used his fingers to mime having a slit throat.

"Yes ma'am. It won't happen again." Emerald apologized.

"And _you_ …" She said, turning around to face Roman again. "Why wasn't this job done sooner?"

Roman stands there for a moment thinking 'seriously?'. He points to his left "Eh?" Then to his right. " _Eehh?"_ He then points behind him. " _EEEHHH?!_ " gesturing to all of the shipping containers above and all around him that filled the warehouse. " _Sorry_ if I've been busy stealing _every_ speck of Dust in the kingdom!"

"You're an _inspiration_ to every punk with a gun and a ski mask." Mercury said, unimpressed and sarcastically.

"Look around, kid. I've got this town running scared! Police camping out every corner, Dust prices through the roof, _and_ we're sitting pretty on an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials, and _rounds_ than we know what to do with! Speaking of which, _if_ you guys wouldn't mind filling me _in_ on your grand master plan, it _might_ make my next string robberies go a little _smoother_!"

"Oh, Roman. Have a little faith." Cinder says. "You'll know what you need when you need to know it." Roman grunts. "Besides, we're done with Dust." She says, beginning to walk away.

" _O-kay_ , then what now?" Roman asks.

"We're moving. Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight." She replies.

"Coordinates?"

Cinder turns to look at Roman. "We're proceeding to phase two."

* * *

Later that day, in Beacon Academy's library, RWBY, JNPR, Steven and Connor were sat down across two tables. Team RWBY played a game Risk, essentially, while everyone else sat around the other table. Ren and Pyrrha were reading books, while Jaune read a comic book, and Nora slept on top of an open textbook, and was clearly dreaming about pancakes in some fashion, evident by her occasional muttering of "pancakes". Steven and Connor sat on opposite ends of the table from each other, Steven next to Pyrrha and Connor next to Ren. This was so neither of the two had an advantage over the other in the game the two were playing with each other on their scrolls called "Kung Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle 2", one of Remnant's most popular fighting games.

The two are tapping their scrolls furiously, inputting moves and blocking the other's attacks.

Over at team RWBY's table, it was Ruby's turn in the board game. After carefully weighing her options, she stood up and pointed at Yang. "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

Yang thrusts her elbow down while balling her fist. "Bring it on!"

"I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!" Ruby slaps down her card on the board, and Yang feigns a look of shock and surprise. "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!"

Yang feigns indignance as she points at Ruby. "You feind!"

Ruby ducks at her end of the table. "And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time is only one turn." Ruby peaks her head up in surprise as Yang laughs arrogantly.

Yang raises a card, with its back facing Ruby. "Pretty sneaky, sis, but you just activated my trap card!" She says, turning the card around to reveal her card. "Giant Nevermore!" and then slams it down on the table. "If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

" _But,_ if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"

"That's just a chance _I'm_ willing to take!"

At the other table, Steven and Connor are taunting each other verbally when Ruby can be heard from not far away. " _Noooooooo! My fearless soldiers!"_ she said dramatically.

"NO! Dang it!" Steven proclaimed.

"Ha! Get rekt!" Connor said in victory.

Ruby says from across the tables "Goodbye my friends, you will be avenged."

"Not until I draw my _rewards!_ " Yang continued. Ruby groans as she is still deflated from her loss, dramatically and emotionally.

"How are you always so good at these damn games?!" Steven asked Connor.

"I dunno, luck? Skill?" he replied.

"Man, I hate these games!" Steven said.

"Wanna play again?" Connor asked, already knowing the answer.

"You're on!" Steven replied. These games may suck when he loses continually, but they were still fun as hell.

Nearby, Pyrrha coughs, before closing her book, taking Jaune's comic out of his hands (much to his surprise), and places her book under his now-empty hands, before opening the comic and reading it herself.

As Pyrrha reads Jaune's comic, a Nevermore piece from team RWBY's game is thrown over Jaune's shoulder, and another is thrown into his forehead.

"Have you no heart?!" Ruby cried, before collapsing on the table and crying 'Noooooo!'.

"Well, Wiess… It's your turn." Yang told her.

Weiss stared at her cards for a few moments. "I have… absolutely no idea what's going on."

Yang slides up beside her, and places her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Look, it's easy! You're playing as Vacuo which means that all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus." She began to explain.

"That sounds dumb." Weiss said.

Yang starts sorting through Weiss' cards. "See, you've got a Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge… Oh! Oh!" Yang exclaims, pulling up a card of Weiss'. "Resourceful Raider! Now you can take Ruby's discarded Atlesian Air Fleet-"

" _Noooooooo_ " Ruby groans.

"And put it in your hand!"

"Okay." Weiss replied, beginning to get something forming in her head.

"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance against Natural-based hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable _my_ ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom!" Yang finished, before pointing an accusatory finger at Weiss and glaring at her. "Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war." She said as she glided back to her seat, not moving her gaze or finger as she did so.

Still confused, Weiss asked, "And that means…"

"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!" Ruby said, still crying dramatically.

It immediately hits Weiss, who sits there for a moment before she stands up suddenly, and begins to laugh maniacally. "Yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms!"

"Trap card." Yang says suddenly, snapping Weiss out of her evil trance.

"Huh?"

Yang shuffles the pieces on the board, taking Weiss' pieces out. "Your armies have been destroyed." She said matter-of-factly.

Weiss slumps in her chair and tears up. "I hate this game of emotions we play!"

Ruby hops into Weiss' lap, hugging her by the neck. "Stay strong, Weiss! We'll make it through this together!" She said, still crying from her loss.

"Shut up! Don't touch me!" Weiss says as she hugs Ruby in comfort.

Yang puts her arms behind her head. "You're up Blake!"

Blake snaps out of her trance. She hadn't been paying any attention to the game the entire time, she was too deep in thought. "Oh! Um, sorry, what am I doing?"

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the four kingdoms of Remnant!" Yang said.

"Right."

Ruby and Weiss have since recovered, Ruby returning to her seat. Jaune walked up behind Weiss.

"Hey, can I play?" he asked.

"Sorry Jaune, we've already got 4 people." Ruby said apologetically.

"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt that you possess." Weiss said coldly.

"Uhh, you attacked your own naval fleet 2 turns ago" Yang reminded her, causing Weiss to scoff at her.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen! I'll have you know that I have been told that I am a natural born leader!" Jaune says confidently.

"By who, your mother?" Weiss counters.

"A-and Pyrrha!" He responds.

Pyrrha sits up at the mention of her name, and waves at them. "Hello again!"

Jaune puts his hands together pleadingly. "Come on, let me play your hand for a turn!"

"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!" Weiss replied.

"Why not? You've trusted me with way more important stuff before. I mean, you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fa-"

Pyrrha darts over to Jaune before he could finish, placing her hand over his mouth before finishing his sentence for him. "Fun-loving person, whom we all admire and respect."

Blake glares at Jaune, who laughs nervously.

"Right. That. Ladies, enjoy your battle." Jaune bows as Pyrrha walks back to her seat.

The five at the table then notice Sun and Neptune, who has yet to be introduced to them, walk up to the table.

"Sup losers." Sun says as he stops next to the table.

"Hey sun!" Ruby welcomes him.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake... Ice Queen." He begins as Neptune steps next to him.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" she asks to no one in particular.

Sun ignores her question. "I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend."

Neptune buts in for a second, noticing the board game in front of them. "Uhh, aren't libraries for reading?"

Ren throws his arms up. " _THANK_ YOU!"

Nora wakes up suddenly. "Pancakes!"

Sun bumps Neptune in the arm. "Shut up. Don't be a nerd."

"Geh, geh, geh, geh! ' _Intellectual'_ , okay?" Neptune corrects him. "Thank you." He then waves the ten people in front of him. "I'm Neptune."

Weiss suddenly seemed interested. "So Neptune, where are you from?"

"Haven." He responds as he approaches Weiss. "And I don't believe I've caught your name, Snow Angel."

"Uh, I'm Weiss." She says, flattered.

"Pleasure to meet you." Neptune replies.

Sun looked over to Blake. "I never took you as the board game playing type."

"Right, well, I think I'm done playing actually." Blake said as she got up and went through Sun. "I'll see you guys later." She said before leaving.

Sun looked at everyone confused, hoping for an explanation as to what was wrong.

In all honesty, no one knew.

No one offered an answer, so Nora shrugged. " _Women_."

* * *

Blake sat on her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about that night at the docks, about why the White Fang were doing what they were. She _knew_ them, and this was not how they operated. She played that night over and over and over again in her head, desperately trying to make sense of it, but coming up with nothing. She needed more information, but she didn't know how.

Blake was left alone to her thoughts for a couple hours until the rest of team RWBY came back from the library after playing another game or two of the strategy game.

"Ugh! We should never have let him play!" Yang groaned as she entered the room.

"You're just mad cuz' the new guy beat you! See, if you had just attacked when I told you none of this would have happened." Ruby explained.

None of them seemed to notice Blake there; they were too caught up in their conversation to notice. Blake took the opportunity to leave before they noticed.

Blake reaches for the doorknob, but is stopped immediately in her tracks when Weiss notices her.

"Stop." Weiss commands her, causing Yang and Ruby to halt their conversation, and turn around to Blake and Weiss. "Lately you've been quiet, antisocial and moody!" She states.

"Uh, have you met Blake?" Yang said.

"Which I _get_ is kind of your ' _thing_ ', but you've been doing it more than usual! Which quite frankly, is unacceptable! You made a promise to _me_ , to _all of us_ , that you would let us know if something was _wrong_!" Weiss then flips through the air for some reason, before pointing her finger dramatically and accusatorily at Blake. "So, Blake Belladonna, what is _wrong_!?" Weiss now stood on top of a chair, which she was balancing precariously on its' back feet. She quickly puts the chair away, and comes back to her initial position as if nothing happened. The faces on Ruby and Yang said otherwise though, both of their expressions saying that they were wondering at what the heck just happened.

"I just, I don't understand how everyone can be so calm." Blake answered.

"You're still thinking about Torchwick?" Ruby asked.

"Torchwick, the White Fang, _all of it_! Something _big_ is happening and no one is doing anything about it!

"Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the Huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it." Yang reassured her.

"Well I'm _not_! They don't know the White Fang like I do!" Blake refuted.

Weiss spoke up. "Okay, between blowing up nightclubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm _sure_ the three of you think that you're _all_ ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells!" She said, putting her hands together.

"Uh, who?" Ruby asked, never hearing that sort of vocabulary before.

Weiss ignored her. "But let me once again be the voice of reason. We're _students_! We're not ready to handle this sort of situation!" She reasoned.

"Well yeah, but..." Ruby began.

"We're _not_ ready!" Weiss restated.

"And we may never _be_ ready!" Blake shouted. "Our enemies aren't just going to sit around and wait for graduation day." She reasoned. "They're out there, _somewhere_ , planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's _coming_! Whether we're ready or not!"

Blake had a very valid point. Ruby took the opportunity to make a proposition to the team.

"Okay, all in favor of becoming the youngest Huntresses to single-handedly taking down a corrupt organization conspiring against the Kingdom of Vale... say aye." Ruby said, raising her hand slightly.

Yang pumps her fist enthusiastically. "Yes! I _love_ it when you're feisty!"

"Well, I suppose it could be fun." Weiss conceded.

"None of you said 'aye'…" Ruby said, disappointed.

"Alright then, we're in this together!" Blake said happily. She didn't want to do this on her own, and the fact that her team was once again so understanding, she was grateful that they were willing to help her yet again.

"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby said excitedly.

"Yeah!" Yang agreed.

Ruby gasps suddenly as she begins to freak out, however as she realized something. "I left my board game at the library!"

"We're doomed." Weiss says sarcastically.

* * *

Ruby quickly runs out of her room shouting back "I'll be right back!" before bumping into someone and falling onto her backside. Ruby looks up. "Sorry! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." A mint-green-haired girl with red eyes replies. Emerald offers her a hand to help her up, which Ruby gratefully accepts. Mercury stood next to Emerald. "Just watch where you're going."

"Right, sorry." Ruby apologizes. "I'm Ruby. Are you new?"

"Visiting from Haven, actually." Someone else says from behind the two, who separate to reveal Cinder walking up between them.

" _Ooh!_ You're here for the festival! But exchange students have their own dormitory." Ruby told them.

"I guess we just got turned around." Mercury said innocently.

"Hey, don't worry, it happens all the time." Ruby reassures them. Mercury and Emerald seem to ignore her, walking past her and down the hall around her as she continued. "Uh, your building is _juuuust_ east of here."

"Thanks." Cinder says as she walks around her. "Maybe we'll see you around."

"Yeah, Maybe!" She returns. She then remembers her manners. "Oh, uh, and welcome to Beacon!"

Ruby had no idea just who Cinder was, or that she had already heard about her. She was told about her not too long ago, the same day that she and Steven went out to Vale together to get the parts for what became his Desert Eagle. She had no idea that she just met Jenny, and neither did anyone else but Jenny herself.

Cinder smiled evilly to herself, her back towards Ruby as she walked down the hallways towards their actual dorm.

That night, phase two would truly begin.

* * *

Steven stood in a dark, and empty room. It was endless, no discernable walls, barriers, or features were visible. The only thing illuminating the area was standing was an invisible light that lit up where he stood, but nowhere else.

'Where the _hell_ am I?' he thought to himself.

"Did you think I was bluffing?" A very familiar voice echoed to him.

Steven instantly froze in fear. It was the voice again, the one from the Emerald Forest.

"Did you really think there wouldn't be consequences for disobeying me?" The invisible woman asked again, restating her question.

"What do you want?!" Steven shouted at the voice. He heard something run nearby behind him, causing him to turn around quickly to see nothing.

"You really don't remember _anything_ , do you?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?!"

"He hasn't told you _anything?_ "

"Told me what?! What the hell are you even talking about?! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Steven shouted.

"I'm talking about your past, of course. You're a very important person, after all. Don't you remember?" The voice asked. She was toying with him now.

"What past? I did _nothing_ on Earth! I was just _a_ _kid_ , what the hell did I do that was so important for _Remnant_?"

"They haven't told you yet? Well then I'll let them tell you when they're ready. It won't matter. You were a very important person that much I'll say. So important in fact, that every man, woman, and child feared you, entire armies surrendered to you specifically. I'm surprised you don't remember that."

"You're lying!"

"Am I?!" The voice countered.

In Steven's mind, he knew that she must have been bluffing. If he remembered taking down _entire_ armies like she said he did, he _certainly_ would remember it.

"Shut the fuck up and show yourself already!" Steven shouted, trying to change the subject.

The voice said nothing for a moment, but didn't show herself. "I will leave you with one last warning. But next time, You won't be so lucky." She assured him.

Before Steven could say anything, the sounds of screams, fire, and Grimm slowly began to fill his ears. He looked around to see the image of Beacon Academy in ruins, burning, and Vale destroyed behind him in a blaze.

" _Steve…._ " A familiar voice said from behind him.

Steven quickly turned around, and was horrified by what he saw. Ruby was standing there, barely able to stand up, grasping her chest as she fell to her knees.

" _Why…"_ She said, before falling over, dead.

"Ruby!" He shouted, horrified. He tried to kneel down and pick her up, bring her somewhere to get her some help or something, but his body wouldn't respond to his commands. Not because he was too shocked, but because he wasn't in control.

Steven looked around him. On the ground nearby him lay the bodies of his other friends, pools of blood beneath them all. Ren was face-down, Stormflowers in his hands at his sides. Nora wasn't far from him, her hammer, Magnhild, broken into pieces and a determined and wrath-filled look left on her face, which was decapitated from the rest of her body. Jaune sat propped up against a piece of rubble, his sword and shield at his side, a hole gaping where his heart should have been, but was visibly empty and devoid of the organ. Pyrrha lied next to him, collapsed as she held onto his arm, and was keeled over his dead body, several gashes and cuts across her entire body. Her sword and shield sat near her, bent and broken beyond recognition. Yang was to the left of Ruby, and was missing her right arm, which was located not too far away from her. She clearly bled out, but she visibly tried going out fighting, her body looking like she just tried to punch someone. Blake had a giant cut across her stomach, blood and guts spilling out as she lay on the ground on her back, dead. Her katana still in her hands. Weiss had a large, bloody cut down her left eye where her scar was, her eye missing. Her neck was twisted at an unnatural angle as well. Myrtenaster was at her side, dropped into the ground, sticking out of it with the blade stuck in the ground.

Steven looked at them all in horror. He refused to believe this was all real, it couldn't be, it was impossible. He looked at them all several times, taking in what the hell he was seeing. He was crying quite visibly, but he didn't notice.

Steven then noticed one thing in common with each of the bodies.

 _They were all facing him._

This fact struck Steven like a Freight Train. Why would they be facing him? What did he do? Did he do… _this_?!

Steven felt something on his hands.

He quickly looked down at the palms of his hands, and saw that his hands, or whatever he was looking at where his hands should be, were both drenched in blood, from his fingers to his elbows, even up to his upper arm for his right arm. But his hands weren't his own. His fingers had claws, and were black and had spines protruding from them. But his shoulders still had _his_ armor on them. He was still wearing his armor.

It _was_ him.

 _He_ killed them.

"No…" He said.

"No. No, No No!" He refused to believe this.

* * *

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Steven shot up in his bed, panting.

'It was a dream… It was just a dream' He thought to himself.

He took a minute to think about what the hell just happened, and soon came upon the realization that it wasn't a dream, it was a warning. The voice came back, and it was not happy, whoever it belonged to. He went over to what she said in his head.

'What was she talking about? My _past_? What past? I have no past on Remnant. She was lying, she must have been. There's _noooo way_ I've been here before, it makes no sense. And who was the 'he' that was supposed to tell me something? Mind being a bit more specific, lady?' He thought to himself. The more he thought about it, the more he calmed down, to the point where he was completely okay, and even joked about the silly dream he just had. But that didn't mean he didn't think about the scene he was shown seriously. Which made him realize that it still wasn't a dream. The voice showed him this on purpose. Why, he didn't know, but he knew she wanted him to see it.

Steven looked over the scene he was shown again in his head a few times, checking detail after detail. It must have been a dozen times he looked it over before he realized someone was missing from the scene. Connor wasn't there. All of his other friends on Remnant were there, but Connor wasn't, and he counted. Why else would Steven himself be there? He wasn't from Remnant, so if he was there, then he and all of his friends had to be there too.

That was his logic, anyways, flawed as it may be, but he had a point. Connor was missing, and that might be important.

Steven looked over at Connor's bed. Connor lay on his left side, facing away from Steven, but didn't appear to have woken up despite Steven's long, and awfully loud scream when he woke up. He was surprised that no one had come barging into his room to make sure he was okay yet.

Steven was relieved to see that Connor was alright, so he got up to go splash some water in his face from his bathroom sink.

When Steven left the bathroom, he stood in the doorway for a moment.

He looked over at Connor, still asleep. He lay there peacefully, undisturbed. Completely… motionless…

Steven's fears left over from what happened not long ago got the better of him, and he cautiously walked over to Connor's bed.

On his way over, he was reassuring himself that nothing could have _possibly_ have happened to Connor in reality, when the scene happened in his head. He was _fine_ , he was just overreacting, and he knew it. He also knew that the only way he'd be satisfied was to confirm his reasoning, and then he would see that Connor was indeed okay, and everything would be fine.

Steven stopped next to Connor's bed, standing behind him. He looked over to the digital clock, which read 2:37 A.M. Steven looked back over at Connor, expecting to see his chest rising and falling as he breathed.

He didn't see it at first. Steven reasoned with himself that it was simply because he was breathing so lightly that it was hard to see.

Trying to get a better angle, and a better perspective at which to see Connor's breathing, Steven sat down on his bed, and stared at Connor to make sure he was indeed breathing.

But there was still nothing.

Steven sat there for a few minutes in silence, in both his mind and the world around him.

Steven finally got up, concerned now.

"Connor?" He asked in a hushed, but still easily audible voice. "Wake up buddy." He said as he shook his friends' shoulder.

Connor didn't make a sound.

"Connor, come on, it's time to get up!" he lied, knowing that it would get him up or at least to respond if he heard him. Steven sighed, "Connor, come on!" He said again, continuing his lie if Connor was listening to him.

He pulled on Connor's shoulder to get him onto his back. It was much easier than he thought it would be, and what was revealed as a result was not what Steven expected.

Connor lied in his bed, a hole where his heart was, something having stabbed him there. His eyes were wide open, having shot open when he was stabbed. Only now did Steven notice the pool of blood on the bedspread that trailed onto the floor in front of Steven.

"Connor?" He asked as if nothing was wrong. "Connor?!" He began to shout. He shook his friend violently, as if Connor was stuck in some sort of trance. "CONNOR?!" He full on yelled. "CONNOR WAKE THE FUCK UP! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Steven yelled in disbelief.

"CONNOR!"

* * *

In the room next to his, Steven's friends of team RWBY were suddenly woken up from their slumber when Steven screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOO!", which could easily be heard through the walls.

Ruby jumped, frightened by the sudden noise, and fell off her bed and onto the floor. Yang jumped in her bed, while Weiss let out a quick, startled scream. Blake shot up in her bed, her ears pointed up towards the ceiling. She immediately began to look for the source of the sound.

"What the heck was that?!" Yang asked concerned and completely awake.

"Hold on a second." Blake said to them as she walked over to the wall that separated Steven's room from theirs, and put her ears against it. She didn't hear much, unable to discern words, but she _could_ tell one thing.

"I think Steven had a bad dream, is all." She told them. "He seems to be calming himself down."

Yang sighed in relief, and Weiss groaned a little, unhappy that Steven had woken her up. She slowly lay herself back down to return to sleep.

Ruby, however, stayed with a concerned look on her face as she sat up from the floor. Blake could easily see it, thanks to her nightvision that her Faunus DNA gave her, but Yang also noticed it. She had a knack for these sort of things to begin with, and Ruby being her younger sister only magnified her abilities.

"Ruby, he's fine, I'm sure of it." She reassured him.

"I-I don't know…" She said. "I want to go make sure he's alright." She said, getting up and heading to the door.

"Ruby, wait." Yang told her. Ruby did as she was told, stopping before the door. "I know you care about him, but I think he needs to be left alone. We don't know what the dream was about, and he may not want to talk about it." She reasoned with her. "You can ask him about it in the morning, we'll be sure to give you two some alone time tomorrow."

Ruby stood there for a moment before compromising. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She agreed reluctantly. She walked over to her bed, and was about to get into it, holding onto the makeshift ladder up to her bed that was the bed itself, causing it to tip a bit as it was suspended from the ceiling by simple rope.

But her motions were interrupted as Steven began to scream out Connor's name. Ruby looked over at her sister with heavy concern. Everyone sat up, worried. When they heard him yell to Connor 'this isn't funny', they knew it was serious.

Ruby quickly used her semblance, and flew out of the room, trying desperately to get into Steven's room.

The rest of team RWBY got up as well, Yang grabbing her Ember Celica's just in case. Team JNPR had heard the entire commotion too, and had their door open, each of them poking their heads out, concerned, worried, and afraid. Their fears weren't eased when they saw Ruby trying to get into Steven's room.

Yang grabbed Ruby by the shoulder, and told her to step back. Ruby did so, and let Yang do her thing.

Yang stepped back, and kicked the door. She did this several times, trying to break the lock. The fourth time her foot connected with the door, it flew open.

Ruby ran inside, worried sick, with the rest of her team and team JNPR close behind.

"Steve! Are you okay?! What's wrong?!" She asked frantically, running up to him and kneeling beside him as he was knelt down behind Connor's lifeless body, crying onto the floor.

Steven looked at her, his eyes letting a steady stream of tears fall. "Connor's dead." He said, choking on his words as they came out.

Ruby's face instantly changed to one of shellshock, and horror.

Everyone behind her gasped as they looked over and saw Connor's lifeless body, the stab wound in his heart, and all of the blood as they turned the light on in the room.

Ruby carefully and slowly looked over at Connor to see it for herself, witnessing the gruesome scene that was only mere inches away from her.

All she could do was gasp. It was pure horror. Something she never thought she'd have to witness anytime so soon again.

Ruby hugged Steven tightly, she wouldn't let go until he was okay. Steven quickly hugged her in return, letting out what he still hadn't already over Ruby's shoulder.

"He was _MURDERED!_ " he cried.

Despite already knowing it themselves, everyone didn't believe it deep down, not until he said that.

Who would _murder_ Connor, and why?

 _They don't want to know who._

* * *

 _With the death of Connor, a new beast has been awoken, one that not even the beast themselves knows of, and won't see until it is almost too late. Everything has changed, whether it is apparent or not. Steven already knew who killed him, or at least had Connor killed. It was only a matter of find before he found the identity of the voice, and whoever it was would receive his wrath, no matter who it was._

 _This is not how anyone imagined the second semester at Beacon Academy would begin._

 _Not only this, but team RWBY has to deal with Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. They need to figure out what he is up to. Will they include Steven? Will they figure out his plan? What happens next?_

 _Stay tuned to Brave New World for Chapter 12: Evil Breeds._

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! let me know about what you thought about the chapter in the reviews! Any and all feed back is appreciated! See you all in two weeks for the exciting chapter 12!**

 **Don't forget to leave a review if you want!**

 **Also, my contest still stands from last week! So submit something if you'd like!**


	13. Chapter 12: Evil Breeds: Part 1

**Hello everyone! sorry for the super late update. Life n' stuff, eh? Anyways, there's a few things I want to address before you get to the chapter. First off, this was split into two parts in order to prevent a 20k+ word chapter, that could easily have spanned into 30k. This chapter is only on the day after Connor's death, but the second part will be on chapters 3 and 4 of Volume 2, so we'll finally get the ball rolling oncemore.**

 **Second, I am putting my other story, "Grimm Apocalypse" On a temporary hiatus in order to rethink the ending, as it was really crap the way I left it, and I wont be posting another chapter for a few weeks. However, for now, I will be sticking to this story's update schedule of one every other week for now.  
**

 **Third, this chapter would have been up on Sunday, but I was on vacation and the wifi where I was made it a struggle for my laptop to be able to even google something. Now that I'm home, though, it's up.**

 **Fourth, this story has made over 7,600 views, 61 followers, and 56 favorites! That's a milestone if I've ever seen one! I cannot thank you all enough for reading my story, it really means a lot to me. I hope I am able to entertain you with my story where I am forcing too many situations than I'd like to while the story remains as canon as possible until it finally takes its own path after V3C12. Which brings me to my next thing,**

 **Fifth, the RWBY volume 4 trailer came out! It's got me hyped, I dont know about you guys. But I'm still wondering if I should stay canon with the story line into Volume 4, or go off on my own after Volume 3? there are six months between the two volumes, but I'm wondering if is should return to canon or not after those six months. I'll let you guys know my decision when I reach it.**

 **Lastly, it's time for me to respond to reviews since the last chapter.**

 **Lil'Manuel.G:** **I do agree with you on how it happened so suddenly, but It had to be done this soon for a number of reasons. I can't exactly tell you what those reasons are, but I made sure that it will add to the story in the end. If circumstances were more normal, then I probably would have killed him later on.**

 **Skyrrow: Glad you liked the chapter!**

 **Now, without further adieu, here is the chapter! It is going to be mostly a feel train, but it's got some nice moments. Next chapter will be better, and will progress the story further.**

 **Enjoy! And dont be afraid to submit a review!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Evil Breeds: Part 1**

* * *

It had seemed like days had passes since Steven woke up from his 'message' and discovered Connor's untimely end, when in fact it had only been a few hours.

A lot has happened since Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch were called. Steven recounted the events that had followed as he stared at the gray wall in front of and around him, with the chromatic metal chair and table in front of him, lit only by a single lamp hanging over the table.

When the two professors walked in, they couldn't believe their eyes. He remembered Ozpin became very serious quickly, and ordered everyone out of the room except for Steven. When Ruby refused to let go of him until he was alright, Ozpin had to compromise, knowing that she was absolutely serious, so he didn't argue. He simply took both of them instead, and brought them to where Steven was now, only Ruby was still waiting outside behind the door, watching through the one-way glass into the half-empty interrogation room in the security wing of the academy. He's been here for a couple hours now, and nothing has happened yet. He wondered what was happening back in his room, he figured they were just investigating, and he assumed he was the prime suspect, purely because he was there when Connor was killed, and no one else, and he would be until evidence to the contrary was discovered.

* * *

Back in Steven and Connor's room, Ozpin and a few of Beacon's security staff were documenting the scene and anything they could, trying to piece together what happened for themselves. Sadly, they couldn't come up with much that supported any sort of theory whatsoever. There was no evidence that Steven killed him, which was the theory that Ozpin firmly believed against, but nonetheless that was what the automatic first assumption was for the detectives on staff. There was no signs of forced entry anywhere, so someone who had snuck in would have to have had access to the room to get in and kill Connor before leaving. There was no trace of such an intruder either. No stray hairs, footprints in the carpet, fingerprints, nothing. The only clue to who Connor's murderer is, was by the weapon used to kill him with. None of the weapons in the room had blood on them, not human blood anyways, and upon closer inspection of the wound, none of them matched the pattern the murder weapon left. The pattern left by the weapon was small and deep, leading right into the heart. The wound was in the shape of an arrow with four sharpened edges on the tip, each in the shape of a triangle, shaped together to be 90 degrees from the others on the tip of the arrow, and forming a single, sharp point at the end. This told them that they were looking for someone who owned a bow and arrow, but finding them wouldn't be easy. Wrapping up the investigation, Ozpin made sure to tell the detectives on the security force to not share any information about the actual incident. They wouldn't be able to hide the death of a student, and a murder especially would create so many problems, and likely a scandal too with all of the students here from the other three kingdoms. Rumors would start, turmoil would follow, from people accusing others from the other kingdoms, and that's the last thing _anyone_ wanted. So, Ozpin came up with a clever cover story. Until the truth was revealed, the story would be that Connor died from a heart attack. People wouldn't be allowed to see crime scene photos, so they wouldn't know the truth. And, as with all deaths of all kinds in the school or among its student body, the investigation wouldn't look suspicious, as one was always carried out when a student died, even if it was by a Grimm, just to make sure there was no foul play. This may be a lie, but alerting the killer, creating a scandal right before the Vytal Tournament, and the peace between nations being destroyed was the last thing Ozpin wanted right now.

Ozpin knew something about this murder that only a select few knew about as well. He doesn't know the killer, but the murder confirmed something to Ozpin. Qrow was right. The Queen does have pawns, and they're here in Vale.

* * *

Goodwitch, meanwhile, questioned the other eight individuals in the neighboring rooms who were there when they arrived at the scene. She asked them all the same questions privately and separately from each other for privacy concerns. She mainly just asked them what they saw when they arrived, and how they were alerted to what happened in the first place.

They all told her the same thing, telling her that Steven seemed to wake up from a nightmare, screaming as he did so, which woke them up. Then after a few more minutes, he screamed again, but in agony over Connor, and Yang broke down the door to see what was wrong along with the other seven students. Ruby then ran in, and they turned on the lights, and they saw the body.

Blake was questioned slightly differently, as her secret of being a cat Faunus wasn't a secret to the administration, but her species wasn't made public on any of her records out of respect of Blake's privacy, and desire to keep it a secret. Goodwitch specifically asked her what she heard through the wall when she pressed her ears against it. Blake told her that she only heard Steven calming himself down, before he got up and walked around. She couldn't tell where he walked to, but she could tell that he went into a different room. She didn't hear anything that sounded like murder however, nothing of the sort.

After their questioning, they were all informed of how the investigation was being covered up, how it was being labeled as a heart attack, and they told them all why. They all understood the circumstances, and promised not to talk about the incident unless they were behind closed doors, but to use discretion even then. They were only to tell those who asked that he died of a heart attack, nothing more, and nothing less. She also told them that they would be excused from their classes that day, as they may be needed for the investigation. They would return to classes the next day, and their teachers would be informed of their temporary and excused absence.

Ozpin, Goodwitch, and the investigators were about to leave and head to the investigation room, but Yang stopped them for a moment, asking where Ruby and Steven were. Ozpin assured Yang, and everyone else, that the two were fine, and that Ruby was taken to the interrogation room because she wouldn't leave Steven, so she was taken with him. He made sure to explain that neither of them were in trouble, and that only Steven was being questioned. Ruby was just going to be there outside the room.

This put Yang a little more at ease, and with that, they were left to themselves as they were told to stay around their rooms until they were told they could go about their normal business once more.

* * *

While Steven sat in his uncomfortable, metal chair, he had a lot of time to think about what happened, and what it all meant now that he was much more awake. Since he arrived in the room, he had calmed down to the point that he was no longer crying, mostly because there were no more tears to let out. Now, he just sat there, staring either at the table in front of him, or the one-way glass across from him. He didn't know if anyone was behind there, he didn't know exactly why he was in an interrogation room, he only assumed he was the prime suspect. He didn't like that automatic label, but he reminded himself that it was purely because he was the only other person there when Connor was killed, and because that's mostly how investigations ran, prime suspects changed all the time. When the interrogator arrived, he would just describe and explain how it wasn't him, and he would likely be cleared.

Steven mostly pondered about what happened in his message, more so about what it meant, and why it had taken so long for the voice to come back to him since the Emerald Forest. That was quite some time ago, and a lot has happened since then. He wondered what exactly the voice, who or whatever it may belong to, was trying to get him to do specifically by doing this; what it was trying to accomplish by killing Connor. What it meant by what it told him before it showed him… _that_ gruesome scene.

Steven was taken out of his thoughts as the door next to the one-way glass opened with Ozpin stepping into the room, closing the door behind him, and setting his mug full of coffee down on the table before taking a seat in the empty chair. Ozpin then composed himself in the chair, his hands put together in front of him.

"I'm terribly sorry for what happened Steven, but we need to ask you a few questions about what happened so we can piece together the whole story." Ozpin explained.

"Of course." He replied with understanding.

Ozpin didn't waste any time. "How did you discover that Connor had been killed?" He started with.

Steven explained accordingly. "I woke up from a nightmare. I calmed myself down within a couple minutes, and then went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face to get myself to calm down. When I came out of the bathroom, I noticed that Connor hadn't moved at all since I woke up, even despite when I shouted upon waking up. The paranoia that the nightmare gave me made me anxious, so I tried to wake him up by talking to him, but he didn't move. Then I tried to shake him awake, and I pulled on his shoulder, which turned him onto his back, revealing…" Steven paused for a second, remembering the fatal wound in Connor's chest.

Ozpin didn't let him dwell on it too much thankfully. "Do you know around what time this was?"

"It was around 2:37, I think." He answered. "I glanced at the clock before I tried to wake him up." He explained.

"And then the others barged into the room?"

"Yes."

Ozpin sat back in his chair, taking in the new information and mentally putting it in with the rest to help draw a conclusion. After a few moments, Ozpin leaned back into the table. "We know you didn't kill Connor, it doesn't make sense that you did. However, the investigation hasn't shown who the real culprit is, other than Connor was killed with an arrow about a half hour before you glanced at the clock."

"That's it?!" Steven asked with a mix of agitation and hopelessness. He wanted to know who Connor's murderer could be, so he may return the favor at a later date.

"Unfortunately, yes. As of right now, we don't have any evidence as to who the real killer is. However your name is cleared as far as that is concerned." He explained. "Additionally, we will be covering up the murder by saying that Connor died of a heart attack. I'm sure you understand that we can't say he was murdered under these circumstances, especially considering the nature of the killing, and the unknown identity of the killer."

"I understand. But will you keep looking for them regardless?"

"We'll do the best we can to find them. You have my word." Ozpin assured him, which relaxed Steven a little. "Now, I'd like to ask you what your dream was about, if you don't mind."

Steven hesitated for a few moments, but realized that it was something that Ozpin should definitely know the nature of, but he wanted to make sure only Ozpin was listening to this. "Who's behind the window?" Steven asked him.

"Why does that matt-"

"I don't want anyone else to hear about it." He told the headmaster.

Ozpin took a second before responding. "No one is behind the glass. They're all still asleep, so I started the recording of the interrogation before I entered the room. The door to the area is also locked, so no one has come in since then." He lied. He was fully aware that Ruby was in the room when he entered, that's where he told the guard to put the two of them. He didn't see any reason to separate them at the time, and he didn't think it necessary to move her now either. Based on Steven's interactions with Ruby when he got to his room, Ozpin theorized that it may have had to do with Ruby, and it therefore concerned her. No one else was in the room with her, however, meaning that everything else was the truth.

"You're _positive_?" Steven asked again.

"I am absolutely positive. No one is in there." He assured him. "So please… go on."

Steven believed him, and went on to describe his dream. He began by telling Ozpin that it wasn't a nightmare, but more of a warning. He told him that the same voice that took him over in the Emerald Forest came to him in the nightmare. He recalled what it said to him, word for word, leaving out no details at all. Ozpin stayed stone-faced the entire time, not showing his true reactions to some of the voice's statements and questions. Then, Steven got into the details of what the voice showed him. He told of the school, the sounds, the burning city, then Ruby, her voice, her actions, how she fell dead. He told of how he couldn't move around, and how he saw the other seven members of teams RWBY and JNPR, also dead. By his hands. He didn't leave out a single detail. It was hard for Steven to retell; it took a lot to recount the vivid scene.

As Ozpin received the information about the dream, it confirmed many of Ozpin's suspicions and theories. The fact that this voice wanted Steven so badly told Ozpin many things. And how the voice tried to make Ozpin the enemy upset him, but he didn't show it. The fact that the voice tried to bring up things that Steven had no idea bout just yet was strange however. Why go to the trouble of reminding Steven of something he clearly doesn't remember, and what would it gain from telling him to begin with? Surely the voice remembered what happened, there's no way she could have forgotten.

As Steven finished, Ozpin hadn't changed a bit. His posture, expression, demeanor, everything, stayed the same. Steven took it that it meant that Ozpin didn't have much of an explanation for it himself.

"Now… I've been thinking about what she told me before the… image… and I just can't figure out _who_ she was talking about when she mentioned 'he', and what 'he' was supposed to tell me about." Steven said with frustration. "Do you have any idea what it could've meant?" He asked, hoping for any sort of answer.

"No." He lied. "I don't have the slightest idea of who it could have been talking about." He told him. "However, I will keep an eye out for any information regarding it, considering the nature of your nightmare seems like something we should be concerned about. Whoever that voice belongs to, Steven… They _want_ you. I don't have any idea as to why," he lied. "but you should keep your eyes open for anything that may answer that question, and be careful as to what you do from here on."

Steven nodded in acknowledgement.

"That's all I needed to ask of you." Ozpin continued as he rose from the chair, taking his mug of coffee with him, and pushing the chair in. "For now we will keep you in here. Soon we'll let you back out and to reunite with your friends, but we need you to stay here in case we have further questions."

Steven nodded once more, although reluctantly.

"If you need anything, just call me." He said, taking Steven's scroll out from one of his jacket pockets and handing it to him over the table, which Steven took and put on the table in front of himself.

With that, Ozpin left the room, closing the door behind him as he went through.

Steven looked at the time on his scroll, which read '6:23 A.M'. It had almost been a whole four hours, but it felt like days. Steven knew that things were going to change. He didn't know how they would, or who it would affect, but things were certainly going to happen, that much he knew. He wanted to find Connor's killer, and return the favor to them. He wanted to find that voice, and do the same for trying to take control over his life. He felt so many emotions right now, and he needed to calm down. Steven took a deep breath, and opened his scroll and began playing one of his favorite games to take his mind off of the situation so he isn't so overwhelmed. That way, when he comes back to it, he will be more calm and collected, and he can focus on solving them.

* * *

When Ruby heard Ozpin's blatant lie about her location, she became very confused. She knew he saw her there when he arrived, he even acknowledged her and told her that her team was fine. She was unsure if it was an intentional lie, or just a slip of the tongue, but he didn't make an effort to correct himself. There was no one else in the room with her though, so he didn't tell a complete lie, but it still baffled her. Ruby stared into the room with concern and worry, just as she did before Ozpin came here in the first place, for Steven's sake. She listened intently as Steven answered Ozpin's questions, and when he began to describe his dream, she grew more worried and sorry for him. However, she was caught off guard when he started to describe the scene, beginning with her.

When Steven had started describing the nightmare, he made it clear that it wasn't really a dream, but more of something that was put into his head, like someone was trying to show him something, and this was made apparent and clear by the events that were displayed to him. She firmly believed he was telling the truth, and that he was correct in his guessing. But when Steven started to describe herself in his dream when the scene started in his head, she felt torn inside. Someone showed Steven _killing_ her, and it broke her heart. 'He would never do that to me!' she thought. 'That's not the kind of person he is! That voice doesn't know him like we do!' Not for once did she think differently, but she was frozen at the description of her own state in his dream, as well as everyone else's. It was so vivid and horrifyingly detailed. She noticed Steven choking up as he described each and every person, but he choked up the most on Ruby's description, especially when he described that he tried to pick her up but couldn't. It brought tears to Ruby's eyes. Not only did someone seem to force Steven to kill her, but Steven tried to help her _first_. She was the _first_ shown to him, and she was the one that affected him the _most_. She was so upset because she didn't like seeing anyone, but Steven especially, in so much pain and sorrow. And the fact that it was over her made it worse.

She stood there, not paying attention to anything else that was said afterwards. She was too stunned and too deep in thought, trying to make sense of this to notice that Ozpin was leaving until he broke her out of her trance when he opened the door.

When he closed the door, he looked at Ruby expectantly for several questions to come his way, but only received one.

"Why did you lie about me being here?" she asked him.

Ozpin took a moment before answering rather ominously. "I thought you might have wanted to hear about what he had seen."

That was all he said.

Ruby raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn't elaborate further. He only told her to not go into the room, tell him she was there the whole time, and that when she was ready that she was to go straight back to her room, and nowhere else, before he himself left.

Ruby turned back to the glass, watching Steven take his scroll in his hands, and probably begin playing a game on his phone to pass the time. Ruby took out her own scroll.

Steven always cared for his friends before he cared for himself. He was selfless in nature, and everyone recognized it. They all liked him for that and many other reasons. It had made a huge impression on all of them, ranging from making sure they did all of their schoolwork, to making sure they were all right with being away from loved ones at the school, or being someone that everyone could confide their problems in. Ruby was easily the one person affected the most directly by his selflessness and compassion, as she frequently went to him to seek guidance on problems when Yang was either unavailable or unable to help. Being only 15, all of this was so new to her, and a lot was being thrown at her at such a young age. It helped that Yang and Steven helped her out with all of it, as well as everyone else of course, but they were the two biggest helpers. That, and combined with all of the fun Ruby and Steven have had with each other, it was no wonder that Ruby felt the way she did for Steven. He was always there for her, and he was always so kind, understanding, and compassionate, not to mention fun and hilarious and a weapon lover just like herself, among many other common interests.

She figured that he was always there for everyone else when they needed him, his friends coming before himself, and right now, he needed someone to be there for him, especially after knowing after what he went through. She decided that she was going to be the one there for him. He would do it for her, so she was going to prove that she would do it for him in return.

Ruby opened the messaging app on her scroll, and tapped on Steven's name to start a text conversation.

She remembered that Ozpin didn't want him to know she was there, so she chose her first words carefully by pretending she was somewhere else.

 **Ruby: 'Hey Steve, how're you holding up?'**

She watched through the glass as Steven paused his game, and flipped his scroll vertically to answer the message.

 **Steven: 'I'm doing alright, considering the circumstances. What about you? You guys alright? Where are you?'**

 **Ruby: 'We're in our rooms. We all got excused from classes for the day, but we're being told to stay in our rooms. We're shaken up from what happened, but we're more concerned about you. Where are you right now?'**

 **Steven: 'Interrogation room in the security wing. But don't worry about me, I'm fine. Are you sure you're okay? This is something that no one should have to go through at such a young age, and I want to know that you're alright.'**

Ruby sighed. She knew he would try to reverse the subject like he always did when he was being selfless. She'd have to force him to break his defenses if she wanted to return the favor.

 **Ruby: 'Don't change the subject Steve. I'm fine, Yang's got my back. But are** _ **you**_ **okay? Your best friend just died!'**

Steven sighed behind the glass.

 **Steven: 'Ruby, I'm fine. I really am. I am extremely upset over his death, but there are other things on my mind right now. Are you sure you're alright? You seem to be taking this rather well.'**

 **Ruby: 'Steve, I know you want to look out for all of us, make sure we're alright, but sometimes you need to let us return the favor and make sure** _ **you**_ **are okay!'**

Steven didn't respond to that text, but he didn't switch back to his game or anything.

 **Ruby: 'I know you are naturally selfless, we all do, but sometimes even selfless people need to be a little selfish and except some help from others to help just themselves.' She tried to reason with him.**

A tear ran down Steven's face after reading that. He took a minute to respond.

 **Steven: 'I know…'**

 **Ruby: 'You want to talk about anything? About your dream? About Connor? About being interrogated by Ozpin? (He told us about it before he left in case you were wondering)'**

 **Steven: 'Right now, I just need to think about everything that has happened. I'm not quite ready to reveal what happened in either case right now. I still need to process everything that happened. But when I'm ready to talk, I'll let you know. I promise.'**

 **Ruby: 'Ok! I'll be holding you to that'**

 **Steven: 'Ruby, you don't have to do that.'**

 **Ruby: 'Yes I do! You're always there for us but no one is there for you!** _ **Someone**_ **needs to be!'**

Steven took a few moments to reply once more.

 **Steven: 'Fine. I see your point…'**

 **Ruby: 'Good.'**

 **Ruby: 'I'm not going to be pushing you to talk about your feelings and stuff right now, so what else do you need? Want me to bring you something to eat for breakfast?'**

 **Steven: 'I thought you weren't allowed leave your rooms?'**

 **Ruby: 'Hey, I can run down to the cafeteria, grab some food, and run back with it if I wanted to and they wouldn't know a thing. Speed is my semblance, remember? :P'**

 **Steven: 'True. But no, I'm not hungry right now. I'm just really bored. I'm being told to stay here until Ozpin comes back and tells me otherwise.'**

 **Ruby: 'Wanna play a game on our scrolls together?'**

 **Steven: 'Sure, I guess. What do you have in mind?'**

 **Ruby: 'Kung Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle 2?'**

A smile appeared on Steven's face.

 **Steven: 'Sure. I'll start a match and invite you when it's set up.'**

 **Ruby: 'Ok! I'll be waiting :)'**

With that, Ruby's mission was accomplished as much as it could be for the time being. She was going to be there for him, and when he was ready to open up, she will listen. Steven would do that for anyone else, herself included, and she was happy that she could finally return the favor for him, even if Steven didn't know her external motive.

Ruby only had to wait about a minute before the message popped up on her screen saying 'Steven has invited you to play KFNSUDB2 with him! Accept?'

Ruby tapped on the message, and accepted the invite.

The two proceeded to play their favorite fighting game for the next couple hours. Steven silently thanked Ruby for being there for him, and taking his mind off of everything. She was a welcome distraction among the feelings he felt about the events that transpired merely hours ago.

Both of them were having a lot of fun playing the game against each other. They didn't get a lot of time to do these sort of things anymore, and everyone tried to make some fun for everyone when they were not all caught up in school work, whether it be watching a movie or two, going out to dinner, or just training together. But Steven was especially grateful that Ruby spent this time that they both had to make sure he was alright and that he was occupied. He made a mental note to thank her somehow later.

After a couple hours of playing KFNSUDB2 together, Steven received a text from Ozpin.

Steven paused the game, and sent a text to Ruby.

 **Steven: 'I just got a text from Ozpin, lemme read it real quick.'**

 **Ruby: 'K'**

Ruby figured that it was probably to tell Steven he could leave, and that would mean that she would be found right behind the glass. Before Steven responded or anything, Ruby took the opportunity to leave and use her semblance to get back to her room quickly, so she wouldn't be found there.

She was spot on with what the message said. As Steven opened it and read it, it told him that he was free to leave the interrogation room, but he had to stay in either RWBY or JNPR's rooms. He was not permitted to enter his room for the time being until the investigation was over. Steven responded with a text entailing his compliance, thanks, and understanding, before he tapped on his conversation with Ruby.

 **Steven: 'Ozpin says I'm free to leave, but I'm not allowed in my room for now. I'm heading back to you guys.'**

 **Ruby: 'Okay! You're welcome in our room if you want to stay here until your room is all set!'**

 **Ruby: 'You know, if you want to that is.'**

She quickly added. She didn't want to seem weird.

 **Steven: 'Sure. Thank you, Ruby.'**

 **Ruby: 'No problemo :)'**

 **Steven: 'I'll be there soon.'**

 **Ruby: 'We'll be waiting! :)'**

Steven chuckled. Ruby and Yang always used emoji's, and it fit their personality well. It made their text conversations seem more like them than just a wall of text they sent. Which is kinda what they were for now that he thought about it. Steven shrugged before getting up, and leaving the room, eager to move around again after sitting for hours.

* * *

When Steven arrived back in his hallway, he could see that everyone else had already gone to class, other than RWBY and JNPR, as they were told not to. This was good. He didn't want any confrontations right now, and unnecessary attention is the last thing he wanted. He stopped in front of his room. His door was closed, rather haphazardly, as Yang _did_ kick it down. It was covered in police tape, and there were several locks on the door so no one could go in without permission. Steven let out a sigh, before turning back down the hall, and walking to RWBY's door.

Steven knocked on the door three times. From the inside Ruby could be heard, slightly muffled by the door. "I'll get it!"

Steven braced himself.

Ruby opened the door, and as soon as she saw who it was, she flung it open and immediately hugged Steven tightly.

There it is.

Steven returned the gesture, and hugged her back. Ruby wasn't letting go anytime soon by the looks of it, so Steven feigned a chuckle. "Ruby, I'm better now, I promise."

"No you're not!" She replied, muffled as she spoke into his t-shirt right under his chest. She was only 5' 2", and she only came up to under his chest when Steven wasn't wearing his boots at 6' 2", which made her rather short compared to him.

Steven sighed before grabbing her by the shoulders and gently pushing her off of him a little, and bent down so they were eye to eye.

"Ruby. I'm doing better, thanks to you guys. I'll be fine as long as I have all of you around me."

An " _Awwwwwww"_ came from Yang in the corner of the room, and Ruby made a squeaking noise before she renewed the hug and put her head over his right shoulder.

She stayed there for a few seconds before she backed up a little so she was face-to-face with Steven, but she still held onto his shoulders. Her face turned serious when she spoke. "Are you _sure_ you're alright?"

"I'm positive." He replied.

"Good." She said with a smile, convinced, and finally let Steven go, motioning for him to come in.

Steven stepped in, only to be met by Yang with another hug, albeit this one wasn't as immobilizing. "I'm _so_ sorry for you Steve." She said with a slight waver in her voice.

"Thank you, Yang." He said, returning the gesture.

Yang let go, and backed up a few paces. Blake and Weiss looked at him with apologetic and sympathetic faces as well, but didn't move in to hug him, they didn't know him well enough for that, and he understood that perfectly well. He simply nodded to each of them.

"If you want to talk about it, just let us know, or even just one of us." Ruby said to him.

"I will. I promise." He replied once more. Steven noticed that everyone had changed into their usual, more comfortable combat attire since this morning.

Yang spoke up, realizing he was still in his PJ's, and he still hasn't taken a shower or anything, and his room was closed to him. "You can take a shower in our bathroom if you want, and we have one of those spare male uniforms lying around here somewhere. They haven't taken ours back yet."

"I'll pass on the uniform. I want to be comfortable right now." He replied.

"Then feel free to take a shower." She reinstated.

"Thank you. All of you, really." He said.

"Just don't look in places you shouldn't." Weiss threatened him.

Steven chuckled lightly, happy that Weiss was at least acting normal. Whether it was forced or not, he didn't know. He just wanted things to be as normal as possible right now.

"I won't." Steven assured her.

He then went into their bathroom, and began to take a quick shower to get his mind off of things.

Once they were sure Steven couldn't hear them over the water, the four of them began to talk amongst themselves.

"Now what?" Blake asked. "Things are going to be _very_ different."

"I don't know. All we can do now is wait, I guess. See what happens." Weiss offered.

"We can't just do _nothing_!" Ruby whined.

"Steven is probably going to try to forget this as quickly as possible." Yang reasoned. "Not totally forget it, but move on as quickly as possible. I say we do the same. We have enough to worry about with finding out what the White Fang and Torchwick are doing as it is, and grieving over Connor when Steven doesn't want us to will just stress him and ourselves even more than it needs to."

Yang was right. Although Steven didn't want to forget Connor, he knew he needed to move past it. If he didn't, then every living moment will be consumed with grief and misery, and he'll be a shadow of his former self, and that's something he, Connor, nor anyone else would want.

"But we can't just ignore it!" Ruby countered.

"And we won't." Yang calmly assured her younger sister. "We will be supportive of him when he needs us, whether he wants us to be or not. But we have to remember that we can't be too pushy about this. You know this better than anyone else Ruby." Yang reminded her.

"Yeah… you're right." Ruby admitted, looking to the floor.

"I say we do something to get his mind off of things for a bit. Y'know, to cope a bit." Blake offered.

"That's not a bad idea Blake-y" Yang said, earning a light glare from her partner at the nickname.

"All right. Let's watch a movie or something." Weiss further added to the options on the table.

"Or play a game or something!" Ruby added excitedly.

"There we go! See? He'll be fine in no time!" Yang said.

They were interrupted from further thought with another rapping on their door. Yang opened it this time, revealing team JNPR behind it, all sharing worried looks, also having changed into their usual, more comfortable attire.

Jaune stood at the front of the four of them. "Hey Yang, is Steven back yet? We were really worried about him and wanted to make sure he was doing alright… y'know, considering the circumstances."

"He's taking a shower right now in our bathroom." She told them, before motioning them inside. "He's doing better right now, having had time to think about it I guess, and Ruby helped cheer him up by playing some video games with him before he was let out of the interrogation room."

"Well that's good." Pyrrha said, trying to see the bright side of things, and lightly praising Ruby silently for being there for him when the rest of them couldn't, which caused Ruby to smile.

"Yeah. I hate to see Steve so down. Once he's depressed, then usually that means the rest of us are depressed already." Nora pointed out.

"Which is all the more reason we need to hide that and support him through this. We're his friends and his teammates after all, and we owe that much to him after everything he's done for all of us." Ruby spoke up, stepping back into her role as leader while her sister filled in for her until she regained confidence.

"Agreed." Jaune said, putting on a smile.

"We were planning on either watching some movies or playing some games today. You guys got any more ideas?" Yang asked.

A few of them hummed as they thought, but they all went silent when they heard the shower turn off in the adjacent bathroom.

For whatever reason, they all just waited for him to come out. None of them knew why, they just _did_.

Steven changed back into his PJ's, as his more comfortable attire was still in his room. When he opened the door to the bathroom, he didn't expect to see the remaining eight of his friends to be staring at him though, nor did he expect Nora to come running up to him hysterical and hugging him just as tightly as Ruby did.

"Nora, I'm fine." He struggled to say. Ren had to pull her off of him, earning a nod of gratitude from Steven.

Pyrrha walked up to him next, hugging him lightly before putting him at arm's length. "We're here for you, Steven."

"I know. Thank you, all of you."

Pyrrha stepped back, and Jaune put a reassuring hand on Steven's shoulder.

"We got you, bud." Jaune assured him.

Steven smiled, offering his fist out, which Jaune bumped with his free hand.

* * *

Afterwards, the nine of them proceeded to watch some of their favorite movies, and played some of their favorite games together. Early on, Professor Goodwitch came by with some food from the cafeteria for them all to eat for breakfast, and left some more food for lunch, telling them that they hoped they could lift their confinement by the evening.

At one point in the day, Steven sat behind everyone else, who were huddled around the TV set that was on the ground, and propped his back against the bookshelf under the window, taking out a pencil and piece of blank, white paper, and put it on a clipboard, all of which he borrowed from one of the desks in the room, and began to draw. He always felt calm, collected, and free when he began to draw, and he wanted to capture this moment as best as he could with his skills as a sketch artist. He once hoped to use his artistic skills to create video games, but now it was just a hobby, but he still enjoyed it all the same. After about an hour and a half, Steven had a complete drawing of the room, complete with the furniture, and emotions of the eight other people within it. The drawing captured a particular moment in time when a tag team of Ruby and Yang won against the tag team of Jaune and Pyrrha in one of their video games, looking victorious while Jaune looked defeated, and Pyrrha smiled and laughed along with the others. As a finishing touch, Steven put a small signature of his name at the bottom right corner, as he did with all of his drawings.

Steven wouldn't have his life any other way, he decided. The only exception being that he wanted Connor back, but the time to pay back his killer would come eventually. Until then, he had to wait patiently, and never forget him.

He had friends that he could only dream of on Earth here on Remnant, and he wished that all of his friends from Earth could join him here, and meet everyone else. They would all get along, he was sure of it.

Steven felt his eyelids get heavy, and he let them close on their own, falling asleep after being so exhausted from the events that have unfolded.

* * *

Not long after he had fallen asleep did everyone notice he had retreated to the bookshelf, and had fallen asleep. They all inwardly giggled. Steven looked at peace, as small smile on his face as he slept.

Ruby took it upon herself to make Steven more comfortable as he slept, grabbing a spare pillow and a blanket from the room, and gently putting it behind Steven's head, and covering him in the blanket. She took the clipboard and pencil from his hands gently, and placed them on top of the low bookshelf. She hesitated for a moment when she saw what was on the clipboard. She took the drawing off of the clipboard to take a better look at it, seeing how the picture perfectly captured the room, and the people within it. Not a detail was missed. Everything from Yang and Ruby's hair to Jaune's hoodie, Weiss' dress, and the image on the TV screen looked lifelike. She was taken aback by how great the drawing was, and she had no idea Steven was so artistic. She also liked his signature. It was short and elegant, but still unique. She put it back on the clipboard after taking a good mental picture of it, and put it on the bookshelf. Ruby then went back to the others.

" _Awwww!_ Look at you Ruby! You're so _cuuuuuute!_ " Yang said, hugging Ruby upon seeing what she had done for Steven, causing Ruby to blush furiously in embarrassment.

" _Yaaaaaaaang!"_ She whined.

The others chuckled. They all knew of Ruby's crush on Steven by now. It was quite apparent and visible. In fact they were surprised Steven himself hadn't noticed it, being the observational person he is.

In reality, he did know, he knew just about the entire time. He just didn't know what to think about it is all. Sure, he liked Ruby as a friend, and under normal circumstances, he'd say yes. He certainly enjoyed her company, and she was always fun to be around. But these were never normal circumstances. Inside, Steven firmly believed that Jenny was still out there, and had come here with him like Connor did. That's why he was so hesitant. He thought she was still here, and he wanted to be with her again. Every day that hope dwindled, though, albeit minutely, but it was still there.

RWBY and JNPR continued to salvage whatever they could out of this horrific day by continuing their activities with each other, just much quieter now that Steven was asleep. It was not long before Professor Goodwitch returned with some nicer news, informing them that they could freely move about the campus once more, and attend classes tomorrow. However, they must not talk about anything that had transpired today to anyone, which they all agreed to. Steven was still asleep, and Goodwitch would have told him this herself were he awake, but instead told the rest of them that Steven was still not allowed in his room, but he would be allowed to grab a few things from his room before he went to bed to last him a few days.

Before they knew it, dinner was being served in the cafeteria. However, since Steven was still asleep, and they didn't want to wake him from a so far peaceful slumber, Weiss, Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha opted to stay behind in case he woke up while they were at dinner, while the other four brought back food for the nine of them. This was actually just a not-so-elaborate scheme in Jaune's case to get another chance at beating Ruby in a round of Super Grimm Bros, but he kept that to himself. He was a bit of a sore loser when it came to these childish things.

Jaune never won his revenge, instead he lost another three times, but this time at the hands of his own teammate, Pyrrha, who accidentally pushed him off the ledge at one point, held the controller upside-down another, and forgot who she was the third time. But they all had fun regardless, even Jaune did deep down.

After that third match, Ren, Nora (with heavy amounts of self-control), Yang, and Blake returned with the food for the nine of them.

"Alright, now that we've got some grub for dinner, _someone_ should probably wake Steven up so he can eat." Yang said to no one in particular.

Ruby glared at her with a look that said 'Seriously?' Yang only shrugged, but the grin she developed revealed that the statement was _entirely_ directed towards her younger sister. "Ugh. _Fine_ " She gave up. Ruby walked over to where Steven was resting, crouching down to his side before shaking his shoulder. "Hey Steve, we got you some dinner!" She told him. "But you gotta wake up first!" She continued, playing around a bit now.

Steven took in a deep breath, and groaned as he stretched and woke up out of his nap, before opening his eyes to see everyone digging in to their meals in front of him, and Ruby waking him up. Steven yawned before he sat up.

"Thanks for waking me Ruby, I'm starving." He told her. "What did you get?"

" _We_ got _you_ some pasta." Yang said as she walked over with his plate, and Ruby's, handing them both their respective platters and some silverware.

"Thanks Yang!" Steven said, accepting the dish from her hands. Ruby took hers and sat down next to Steven against the bookshelf. Steven pushed the blanket off of him so it was down at his waist, but still over his legs. He then began to eat his pasta, while Ruby began to eat her dinner; chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, and some carrots.

After a minute or so, Steven spoke up, and began to talk with Ruby.

"Thanks for the blanket and pillow." He said.

Ruby was rather taken aback by surprise. "Wha-? How did you know it was me?"

"Lucky guess." He shrugged, which it was in all honesty.

"You're welcome." Ruby replied while she nervously rubbed her neck. "The bookshelf looked pretty uncomfortable so I grabbed one of the extra pillows and a spare blanket from the closet."

"That was nice of you. I greatly appreciate it Ruby." Steven told her.

Ruby giggled, waving a hand in dismissal at him as she tried to hide her blush. " _Oh_ , it was _nothing_ …"

"Look at you, getting all shy all of a sudden." Steven teased the usually really friendly girl next to him. Ruby just giggled some more.

The two then calmed down and ate some more of their dinners before Ruby spoke up again not long after.

"By the way," She began. "Goodwitch came by earlier. We're free to go back to classes tomorrow!"

" _Buuut…_ " Steven said, sensing a down side, which he was correct at detecting.

" _But_ you still can't go into your room" She finished, giving him a nervous smile.

Steven sighed. He just wanted to change clothes and go to bed right now, but he was being prohibited from doing so. Not to mention, he wanted to see what the investigation had turned up, and figure out who to direct his anger towards.

"But she also said that you could grab a few things before bed tonight. She said she would be down later to get you so you can do that." Ruby reassured him.

"Well, I suppose that's good." He conceded. "But where am I going to sleep?"

"Well, you could always sleep in here." Ruby said innocently, but quickly clarified, realizing what her statement could be implying. "On the floor, or something I mean!" She spat out quickly, blushing furiously.

Nora gasped heavily from across the room, earning everyone's attention. "We should have a SLUMBER PARTY!" she practically yelled as she sprang up in excitement.

"Yeah, like that." Ruby said, gesturing to Nora.

"It will be _AWESOME!_ " Nora continued, going into a lengthy description of what they should do whether anyone wanted her to or not. "Oooh! We should start _right now_! I'll go get our stuff!" And before anyone could stop her, Nora ran out of the room in a blur, and grabbed literally everything team JNPR would require for a sleepover, and bringing it into team RWBY's room, carrying it all in her arms somehow.

" _Nora_ …" Ren groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, come _ooooon_ Ren! It'll be _fuuuun_!" Nora pleaded with him.

The rest of team JNPR looked at team RWBY with apologetic looks.

Ruby decided that it was worth a shot. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? "You know what? Why not have a slumber party?"

Nora cheered with joy, and threw the various things across the room, somehow landing them perfectly around the place as if they were carefully placed there by a master interior decorator. And that's not even an exaggeration, Nora just has a knack of doing these things whether she tries to do them or not.

Once that was done, Nora got right down to business.

"Alright, the _first_ activity in our super awesome sleepover should be truth or dare!" She declared, taking control over the festivity. Nora ushered everyone to sit in a circle around the center of the room, forcedly if the participant was hesitant. Once everyone was settled, she wasted no time in plopping herself down in between Jaune and Ren, and beginning the game of hell they were all forced to play. "Okay, so, Pyrrha. Truth or Dare?"

Pyrrha thought for a moment, treading carefully. "Truth." She decided. It was the safest option.

"Alright, let's start of easy." Nora began. "What was your most challenging fight to date?"

Pyrrha was genuinely surprised Nora was letting her off so easy, but she had to ponder the question, as she really _did_ have to think about it. Everyone was watching her as she thought about it for a minute or so, until she finally figured it out. "I would probably have to say my second tournament win, as I was put up against a very quick Leopard Faunus, and I had sustained a knee injury the match before, but I refused to forfeit." She told them.

" _Oooooh_! We started off with a good one!" Nora said, mentally patting herself on the back. "Ok Pyrrha, your turn."

"Okay." She thought for a moment. "Yang, truth or dare?"

"Dare! All the way!" Yang said with complete confidence.

Pyrrha was hoping she'd say that. "I dare you to kiss someone."

"What?" They all said, Yang being the most confused out of all of them.

"You heard me." Pyrrha said.

" _Ooookay…_ Well, you didn't say how, so…" Yang said, getting up, walking over to her sister, and giving her a quick peck on the forehead, causing her younger sister to smile, before she walked back over to where she sat, and reassumed her position. "Blake, truth or dare?"

Blake chose the safe option with Yang. "Truth."

Little did she know, there was no safe option with Yang. "Tell us about that book you hide under your pillow."

Blake froze. "What book?" She quickly said, as if there was no book.

"The one sticking out from under your pillow." Yang said, pointing to it.

"Uh, nothing. It's about nothing." Blake quickly said.

"Hey, come on, play the game-"

"Ren, truth or dare?" Blake quickly interrupted Yang.

"Truth." He stated.

"How long have you and Nora known each other?"

"Nora and I have known each other since we were both put in the same orphanage when we were both six." He stated.

"We've been friends ever since!" Nora said, reminiscing.

"Jaune, truth or dare?" Ren asked.

"Truth." Jaune responded.

"How many siblings do you have?"

Jaune was confused. "I thought I already told you I have seven sisters?" he asked.

"Be more specific about them then. What are their names and ages?" Ren clarified.

"Let's see, there's Janice, she's 8, Joan, she's 5, Janine, she's 23, Joanna, she's 12, Jess, she's 15, Jackie, she's 10, and Julianne, she's 24."

"Wow. Life must be hell for you." Steven said.

"It's not actually as bad as you might think." Jaune told him. "Ruby, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" she declared.

"Sit next to your crush." He stated.

Ruby glared at him. Jaune very well knew who she had a crush on, everyone did except for the actual person themselves. What made matters worse was that she was already sitting next to Steven, so she was done for either way, unless she decided to move. Ruby came up with a bold plan. She stood up, walked over to her scythe, Crescent Rose, which was folded up on one of the desks, picked it up, placed it on the floor, and sat next to it. Everyone laughed.

"Alright Ruby, you can return to your seat." Jaune said, amused.

Ruby did so, and when she sat down she continued the game.

"Nora, truth or dare?"

"Oooh, dare. Definetly dare." She said.

"Ok then, do something that Ren _really_ hates." Ruby commanded her. Ren gave her a look that could only be read as 'You traitor!' causing those who saw it to laugh as Nora kissed him on the cheek, which she does very often to begin with.

When Ren was able to get Nora to stop, she continued the game along. "Steven, truth or dare?"

Steven hummed in thought for a moment.

"Ok, hold on." Nora said before he could answer. "You might not like my truth or dare, so I'll give you the option of choosing which one you want to do."

"Sounds fair…" Steven said with slight suspicion in his voice. Many others also cocked a suspicious eyebrow at Nora.

"So you can either choose the 'dare' option, and kiss Ruby there." She began.

"What?" Both Steven and Ruby asked her at the same time, with equally concerned looks.

" _Or_ , you could choose the truth option, and tell us about that dream that _initially_ woke you up last night."

"NORA!" Ren scolded her. That was a very touchy subject, and everyone knew it, even her. However, as is often the case, Nora let her curiosity get the better of her judgement.

"Nora, why would you bring that up?!" Yang scolded her further.

Nora laughed nervously, but she didn't try to change her option in any way.

"Nora, you can't just bring something like that up that way!" Jaune added.

Upon first hearing her options, Steven was unhappy to say the least, especially at the later one, but he knew one thing, which he figured out during his time in the interrogation room earlier. They should probably know about the dream regardless of what it suggested. He trusted these people, and they trusted him, and he needed to show them that he would always be trustworthy to them. Not only that, but the vision might concern them more than even he could realize, which made it all the more important to tell them about it. Plus, it might help him to tell them about it rather than keeping it a secret.

Before any more scolding could take place, Steven spoke up. "No, guys, it's fine." He assured them.

"Steven, don't tell us if you don't want to." Blake told him.

"You shouldn't be _forced_ to tell us." Weiss added, glaring at Nora.

"Guys, seriously, it's fine." He told them. "I was going to tell you all about it eventually. Might as well do it now, since we're on the subject."

Ruby grabbed his shoulder. "Steve, don't tell us if you don't want to." She pleaded with him.

"No, I have to tell you guys." He said, but looked away from her when he said, "It concerns all of you." Remembering who the first person he saw in his dream was. "I insist." He added, forcing everyone to calm down.

Steven took a moment, thinking of where he should start. About a minute passed, and the room was deathly silent. Finally, Steven took a deep breath before he began.

"You guys remember initiation, right?" He asked them, which was a silly question, of course they all remembered it. "And, you remember that I told you a voice came into my head during the… _incident_ …"

They all nodded.

"Well, I don't think my dream last night was a dream at all. I think it was a message of some kind, like a vision, but the voice controlled it. The voice came back." He told them. A few gasps were heard, but everyone became tense and concerned from the mention of 'the voice', the one who told him that his life wasn't his to control, and that he wasn't brought here by accident at initiation. "The voice said there would be 'consequences for disobeying it', and that a 'he' was supposed to tell me about something, apparently about my past, even though I have no past on Remnant other than what I have had here at Beacon. She said I was apparently a 'very important person' on Remnant, so much so that I was _feared_ by everyone." He cringed at the thought of being the subject of someone's fears. "Then she left me with a final warning, stating that if I kept 'disobeying' her, then there would be extreme consequences or something." He finished, taking another deep breath.

"Steve, that's _terrible_!" Pyrrha said.

"Who would do such a thing?!" Yang asked, outraged.

Ruby hugged him closely to comfort him. "I'm so sorry for you Steven." She told him.

"There's more." Steven said through a shaky breath, silencing everyone in the room in a look of shock and sympathy. "Until she gave me the warning, there was nothing but darkness up until that point. But when she left, I began to hear screams of people and Grimm, fires roaring in the distance, gunfire, and destruction. Soon, color began to replace the darkness. When I looked around, I saw Beacon in ruins, fires raging in Vale, and Grimm everywhere. I was standing out in Beacon's courtyard. There were no Grimm there, but…" He cut himself off, taking a deep, shaky breath.

Ruby put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Take your time. No one is rushing you." She spoke softly to him.

The innocence, compassion, and care in Ruby's voice nearly sent him into a crying mess, but he was able to control himself to tell them all what else he saw.

"But, around me… were dead _people._ Dead _huntsmen_ , _huntresses…_ But the ones closest to where I stood… were all of you guys." He began to cry, and everyone gasped at the revelation. "All of you were facing me, dead on the ground, having fought to the death trying to stop… _me…_ " He struggled to say, "And _I_ was the one who killed you all. My hands were stained with blood. They were not my own, but yet they belonged to me." He continued. "I was… some sort of _monster_."

Ruby was quick to react. "But you're not a monster." She reminded him as she hugged him closely. "You're too compassionate, caring, and kind to be a monster."

"Yeah!" Jaune said. "That chick must not know a single thing about you! You're _way_ too awesome to be some sort of monster!"

"And fun!" Nora added.

"Don't forget friendly!" Yang added.

"Accepting too." Blake said.

"Courageous and determined as well." Pyrrha said.

"Collected, and open-minded." Ren added.

"And intelligent. Monsters are never smart in any way, which is what sets them apart from others. If you were indeed a monster, you wouldn't be so smart, and you wouldn't strive for knowledge as much as you do." Weiss concluded.

"See?" Ruby asked him. "If anything, you're everything _except_ a monster. You would never kill anybody, let alone us. That's just not who you are."

Steven had calmed down significantly from their kind words, and he concluded that they were absolutely right. He would never hurt them, no matter what that voice said. He would continue to defy her, and the nine of them would endure whatever she had to throw at them together through it all.

A knock at the door distracted everyone from their thoughts. Yang, the closest to the door, stood up and opened it, revealing Professor Goodwitch once more, having come to get Steven so he may collect some of his things from his room. Steven got up, and went with her to get some of his things after telling everyone he would be right back.

* * *

Shutting the door behind them, Goodwitch and Steven walked a few feet over to Steven's door.

"Are you thinking of telling them?" She asked him now that they were in private, referring to his dream.

"I just told them." He told her.

They arrived at the door, and Goodwitch told him to wait a second before he went in there.

"Steven, this may be hard for you to see again so soon. Are you sure you want to get everything yourself? I can grab everything for you if you want."

"No, I'll be fine. I need to do it myself." He told her.

"If you insist." She said, before opening up the door, and letting him in.

Steven looked around. Connor was gone, having been taken by the investigators, and the sheets with his blood were taken too. Yellow cards with numbers and letters were scattered around the room, but not much else was touched, changed, or different otherwise.

He decided not to dwell too long, and grabbed the things he would need for at least the next couple days; his weapons and armor, his textbooks and notebooks, a couple uniforms, and a couple changes of clothes, before he left the room, which Goodwitch locked behind her.

"Where will you be staying tonight?" She asked him.

"Team RWBY offered me a place on the floor for the night. That's where I'll be for now."

"Are you okay with that? It might be really uncomfortable in a room with all girls." She asked him, concerned.

"Ren deals with it all the time." Steven joked, earning a light chuckle from the otherwise stern professor.

"Besides, there's always the hallway, or the library." He added.

"Alright, if you insist." She said, before leaving him in front of Team RWBY's room again. "We'll get things straightened out as quickly as we can on our end. We'll catch whoever did this."

"I know you will. Just don't kill them until I've had a chat with them, whoever they are."

"Will do." She told him, before wishing him goodnight, and heading off back to her office.

Steven knocked on the door, which Yang was waiting idly on the other side of for his return.

* * *

"Get everything you needed?" She asked him when he stepped in the room.

"Yeah, I got everything I need for the next couple days." He told her.

"Good." She said, closing the door behind him.

Steven walked over to where he took a nap by the bookshelf earlier and placed his things down in a pile nearby, before returning to his friends who were all still sitting in the circle.

Not much else was done the rest of that night. A few more games were played to brighten up the mood, and soon Nora tired herself out and straight up fell asleep on the floor. The rest of team JNPR decided it was probably a good time to leave now that Nora was out like a light, and retrieved their things and brought them back to their room so team RWBY and Steven could have some privacy.

Since it was late, they all readied for bed, which Steven was sure to give them their privacy for. He hated to intrude to begin with, and he hated to be a burden as awkward as the one he was being. However, it was Ruby that offered, and she was their team leader, so the reluctant Weiss had to accept it, despite his presence crossing many of her personal boundaries and breaking several of her personal rules, but she eventually accepted it, given the circumstances. Plus, it was temporary, and it was just as awkward for Steven as it was for everyone else, if not more so.

* * *

That night, Steven slept on the floor in front of the bookshelf, thinking. He had intentionally left out many details about the dream, such as what happened to each of them, and who he saw first. They didn't need to know about that, not now anyways. He had a rough day, which was easily an understatement. It was easily the worst day of his life. He wouldn't easily forget it, he made sure of that. He didn't want to forget Connor at all. But his friends would help him through this every step of the way, and he mentally thanked them for that.

Ruby started the night out restless. She was constantly looking over the bed to Steven to make sure he was sleeping alright. She didn't know what made her feel this way, but she wanted to make sure he was protected, like she owed him something, when in reality she owed him nothing, and he owed her nothing but his friendship, and something more if he chose to in the future, but that wasn't what was making her feel this way. She couldn't quite figure out what it was. On top of all this, there was the added burden of Roman Torchwick and the White Fang too. Her whole team had decided that they were going to try to figure out what they could about his plans, and try to take action.

A lot was on everyone's minds. All they wanted was to calm down and relax, but they would have to wait for some time before the tournament came, and they would have their chance.

* * *

 _With the loss of Connor, our heroes are reduced in number for the first time, from 10 to 9 in just a couple weeks. Things would be different now, but Steven's friends will always be by his side. Through thick and thin, they will always be there for one another, and will endure the toughest of challenges together._

 _Soon, Roman's plans with the White Fang will be revealed, however, and things will take a darker turn. Find out what happens next time in Brave New World Chapter 12: Evil Breeds: Part 2._

* * *

 **So, what did you all think? Sorry I had to cut this chapter in half, the other part might easily take 10-20k words, so just to be safe, I cut them in half in favor of finally posting something.**

 **My next chapter wont be for another two weeks probably, and I hope you all will like the next one!**

 **Let me know what you thought about this one by submitting a review!**

 **Have a good couple weeks until next time!**


	14. Chapter 12: Evil Breeds: Part 2

**Hellloooooooo everyone, once again! Here's the latest chapter! but I'd like to address a few more things that I forgot to bring up last time, and a couple more things before you get to the chapter.**

 **First off, I dunno if all of you are Roosterteeth First members, so I'll refrain from spoilers, but Volume 4 Chapter 1 was AMAZING! Like, holy crap! It was so effin' good, I honestly can't express it any further than that. However, there are certain parts of it that, when thinking in the context of this story, wouldnt fit. The episode for the canon storyline is flawless, but I have decided to go off-canon once I finish at Volume 3 chapter 12. There will be a few Volume 4+ things I will bring in, but only a few things at that point.**

 **Second, I forgot to mention this last time, but I am currently working on a new cover for the story myself. I have several concepts in the works, but they're not quite done yet. I'll let you all know when its up, or the concepts are finished. Maybe I'll even post them somewhere and put the links somewhere and start a poll, see which ones you'd all like to see the most. It'll be awhile until its complete, but i'll have it done by December (probably much sooner than then.) Also, if you couldn't tell, the current cover art is Steven's emblem.**

 **Third, I told you the chapter would be over 20,000 words if it were pushed into one :P. The first part was over 12k, and this one is just over 11k. So you're welcome for not forcing you to read forever to the end of the chapter again :P**

 **Fourth, and finally, We have almost reached 9,000 views! Like, holy crap! that, and 60 favorites, and 64 followers! I am extremely and continually overjoyed at seeing how many people like my story! I simply cannot thank you all enough for simply reading my story that I put together in my free time!**

 **Now, for my responses to the reviews I have received, and then I will leave you to read the chapter.**

 **Lil'Manuel.G:** **I'm sure you'll enjoy how Connor's death plays out for Steven, and how it will affect him in the future. It will be huge soon enough. (I got your PM by the way. I completely understand, stuff like that happens to me all the time :P)  
**

 **rjstx1:** **Wow, you must have binged the story XD. I'm glad you're enjoying it, and I deeply appreciate your compliments, they truly mean a lot to me. I try my hardest at the action scenes that are not already created by the show itself, and I am glad you enjoy them! Also, AP classes, although rewarding in the end, do have a _lot_ of homework, as I'm sure you're aware. AP US History, AP Stats, AP AB Calculus, and AP Computer Science Principles leave me with a lot of homework, but I'm still able to manage somehow. Good luck with your own AP classes!**

 **Oh, and P.S., you might want to take another look at Cinder vs. Jenny...**

 **BlackwaterHell** : **Honestly, I couldn't have put that any better myself. Indeed, will the little bright Rose we all know come to Steven's side soon enough. It may not be this chapter (although it could be!), but it will come soon enough.**

 **Enjoy the chapter everyone! dont forget to leave a review if you have a question, or just want to comment! Follow and Favorite to get updates as they come out!**

 **Have a great day everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Evil Breeds: Part 2**

The remainder of the week was certainly one that was nothing like they usually were, which was expected. Of course, there was Connor's murder, which affected them all, although differently from person to person. This became a problem as time went on. They liked to think that they were all going to deal with it together, to get through this challenge together, as one. However, despite his promises to his friends, he often went about the campus on his own during the nights, unannounced, and without letting anyone know where he went. He would eventually return to his room later that night, but he wouldn't socialize with everyone like he usually did, instead locking himself in his room, which was given back to him on Tuesday, the day after Connor's death, and the day after he slept in with team RWBY. This worried everyone, needless to say, and they expected something like this to happen, but they didn't expect Steven to be secluding himself out of all things. Being depressed, sure, but not being secluded. This worried no one else more than Ruby, and she would often go out trying to find him, but to no avail each time.

Now that the second semester had begun, a few of them all had some different classes than the others, now that their schedules had freed up a little from the mandatory classes of the first semester, but they still maintained their four mandatory classes of the previous semester. Now that the Vytal Festival was beginning, and students from the other kingdoms have arrived, they mixed in with their corresponding classes with each other, which made classes a lot more enjoyable. They were going smoothly, for everyone, even after having to catch up after the first day. Steven was even doing just as fine as he did before the first semester ended, taking notes and partaking in class discussions, although with a rather depressed attitude.

By now the entire school, both resident and international students from the other kingdoms, had heard of Connor's death, but not his murder. That was a well-kept secret by the staff, thankfully.

* * *

The morning after Connor's death, Steven made sure he intruded as little as possible in his temporary residence, as he really didn't want to be a burden more than he has been on them by sleeping in team RWBY's room, but Ruby insisted he stay here until his room was all set.

It was funny, really. When things even got remotely strange back on Earth, something out of his control that made his inner demons come out, showing what he was like on the inside of the thick shell of selflessness, courage, and energy he wore, the friends he had made would leave him because he was too different, too strange to them. But these people, teams RWBY and JNPR, they only seemed to become closer each time something happened. He enjoyed this more than anything. Their sympathy, their acceptance, their _support_ that they gave him was something only a few bothered to offer him before, and he was overjoyed to have such amazing friends, ones that he wishes he could continue to share to Connor.

The day he got his room back, Steven moved back in after class, placing his things back where they usually went, but he overall avoided what used to be Connor's area in the room.

The bed and carpet had been replaced, so there were no more signs or indications that anything had happened, or that anyone had lived there. Yet, Steven couldn't help but pretend like Connor was still living there for now. It was one of the several ways Steven coped with things like depression, something he had to deal with often on Earth, only it was usually as a result of stress, and lack of free time back at home, among other things. He would often take his mind off of it by drawing, building, or playing games. He didn't push the problem away when he did this, they were simply ways that allowed him to calm down, and think things through when he was in a sensible state of mind. One side effect to this however, was that he always did this alone. He was not used to dealing with his depression with anyone. Not that he refused any help, he just didn't think it would help him as well as being by himself would be. So, on the nights after classes were over those next few days, Steven found himself ordering some weapon parts on his scroll, so he could make _something_ , something that would take his mind off of things, and whatnot, or taking an empty notebook and a few pencils with him as he walked around the campus by himself. He would stop wherever he felt was a good idea to just sit and draw whatever came to his mind. Once it was one of the grand balconies, another time it was in the library.

He knew that the others were probably worried about him, but he simply needed time to himself for the time being. He pledged to himself that this was temporary, that once he thought things through enough, and dealt with the loss of his best friend, he would return to normal… as best he could, anywars.

He prayed that it wouldn't take too long for that to happen as well.

* * *

That Friday, several of them were excited for classes to end. Steven's parts would arrive today, Jaune would get to sleep in later, but more importantly, team RWBY was going to set their plan in motion finally. They had been waiting all week for this, and Connor's death only served to strengthen the reason to do this, as it was entirely possible Roman had something to do with Connor's death. That was one of the theories they had come up with in secret, as honestly anything was possible with such a lack of evidence towards who it was. It wouldn't be unlike Roman to hire someone to assassinate someone, surely.

That day, as the time neared 4 PM, Weiss couldn't stop glancing at her scroll's clock to see how much time was left of one of Professor Ports' 'lectures', until it was time to get ready to go out there and fight some evil.

When the bell finally rung at 4 PM, signaling the end of the days classes, Weiss, and the rest of team RWBY scurried back to their room with a quickened pace. Once they reached their room, they wasted no time in changing into their various outfits for the job at hand. However, their outfits are different than usual this time, that way they're a bit more 'incognito'.

In addition to her usual red cloak, Ruby wore a shorter skirt without a trim on the ends with a red rose patter emanating from the center, which went over her arms like overalls, showing the gray long-sleeved shirt she had on under it. She kept on her corset, though.

Weiss put on a combat skirt much similar to her usual attire, only this one was much less flashy, and more stylish in the sense that it didn't immediately give off the vibe that she was rich or famous. It was primarily white with black trim, the collar's inside was no longer red, and was white instead, while the trim of the collar, the cuffs of the jacket, and buttons were black. She also wore white, long heeled boots that went up a ways beyond her knees.

Blake was the one who's outfit changed the most from her usual one. She wore black jeans with a black belt around them, black shin-high heeled boots, and a white jacket that exposed her stomach, and was zipped up about half way. Her jacket sleeves were rolled up just under her elbows, and she kept her black ribbons tied around her forearms.

Yang had on black combat boots with golden buckles on them, as well as black leggings that ran up her legs until about her mid-thigh, until they connected to her underwear, which was concealed by her short black skirt. She wore a button-less jacket over her torso, which partially covered the skirt on the top, which showed of her generous endowments, and covered the back and sides of her neck with a black collar. The top of the jacket was also black in contrast to the white and tan bottom portion of the jacket, and her sleeves went down just past her elbow, ending in a golden trim on her cuffs. She maintained her usual fingerless gloves, and wore a belt over her waist too.

"I thought that class would _never_ end." Blake commented on the class just before as she wrapped the ribbon around her right forearm.

"Alright guys!" Ruby began. "Today's the day! The investigation _begins!_ " She cheers excitedly.

"I'm glad we're taking this _so_ seriously." Weiss says sarcastically from her bed.

"Hey, we've got a plan! That's … _moderately_ serious." Yang pitched in.

"Right!" Ruby said, bringing everyone's attention to her. "Everyone remember their roles?"

Weiss restated her role. "You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem." She stated with confidence.

Blake stated her role next. "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."

Yang was last. "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be _too_ hard..." She said with a smirk.

"Great!" Ruby exclaimed. "We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found."

"Just a quick second." Weiss interrupted. "Are we _sure_ we shouldn't include Steven in this? It might help him take his mind off of things." She reasoned. Blake nodded in agreement.

"I was thinking about that all week, and I decided that it would probably be best to let him sort things out on his own." Ruby stated. "Even though he is directly involved with our affairs since he was at the docks, we will leave him and team JNPR out of the loop for the time being."

"All right, if you think that is best." Weiss said.

"Let's do this!" Ruby said, pumping her fist in excitement.

"Yeah!" Said a fifth voice.

The four team mates quickly turned around towards their window, the source of the noise, to reveal Sun dangling from above the outside of the window frame with his tail.

"Sun!" Blake gasped in surprise.

"How did you get up there?" Yang asked.

"Ahh, it's easy; I do it all the time." He said.

"You do _what?_ " Weiss asked with her signature scowl, not happy with what he could be implying.

"I climb trees all the time!" He clarified before flipping through the open window, and into the dorm room. "So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

Blake stepped forward. " _We_ are going to investigate the situation… as a _team_ " she said, emphasizing that it would be only the four of them, and no one else.

"Sorry, Sun." Ruby apologized. "We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."

"Psh! That's dumb!" Sun said, waving his hand in dismissal. "You should always get friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune!" He said, gesturing out the open, and empty window.

RWBY leans out the window to see Neptune standing on a _very_ thin ledge just outside the window.

Neptune speaks up in a very nervous tone after flashing them one of his signature smiles. "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're like, _really_ high up right now."

Reluctantly, the four of them let Neptune and Sun in on their plan, but continue to leave Steven out for the same reason that they don't want to include friends if they can help it, and they weren't allowed an option with Sun and Neptune.

Ruby then goes over the new plan with the two additional participants.

"Alright, I'll go with Weiss; Sun, you can go with Blake." She says as she pushes Neptune past Weiss, he slips her a wink. Weiss looks mildly shocked but then comes to her senses quickly. "And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"

"Actually, Ruby, why don't you go with Yang? After all, she _is_ your sister." Weiss asks with the full intention of wanting to be with Neptune.

Ruby continued pushing Neptune, who was stiff as a board, up next to yang. When she is done pushing him, he rocks back and forth looking nervous. Yang put her hand on his shoulder to stop him from rocking. "But, Weiss, who would go with you, then?" Ruby asked.

"Well... I guess Neptune could come with me." She responded.

Neptune puts on a suave look and points at Weiss.

Ruby thinks she's joking, and cracks up at Weiss' proposition. " _Naaaaah!_ " Ruby dismisses her after her small laughing fit.

Ruby begins to drag Weiss out of the room by the back of her collar to begin the mission, with Weiss in a hopeless protest.

* * *

Meanwhile, Steven sat down in his room, and changed into a more comfortable change of clothes, as classes were over for the day. The packages containing his weapon parts he ordered online came in, and he wanted to just sit down and build _something_ with them. He didn't know what, but it would definitely keep him busy for a while. He probably wouldn't be going outside of his room until dinner, but afterwards he would probably just stay inside the rest of the night. As Steven opened up the cardboard boxes and placed their contents on his desk, he had no idea what he was going to do with them. When he bought them, he only had general ideas in his head, but he didn't know which ones to choose. Steven then paused, remembering something. He opened the drawer in the desk where he kept all of his boxes of ammunition, and began digging through it until he found what he was looking for. Taking out the box of .50 Cal sniper rounds, he remembered the very idea he had in his head the day he bought them. However, this would mean temporarily decommissioning his rifle, as it won't be usable while it's being upgraded. He'll be confined only to his sidearm. He took a minute to debate whether or not to start this now, or when he had considerably more time to be able to finish his project, when he wouldn't need it so much. He eventually came upon the decision to go through with it, as he really just wanted to build something, and he wanted to do it ASAP. He would just use his handgun for now instead of both of his weapons.

A few hours must have passed, as when Steven next looked up at the clock in his room, he had missed dinner completely, and it was now about 8 PM. He was surprised no one came knocking on his door when he missed dinner. Steven decided he was at a good stopping point, and decided to go grab some dinner before the cafeteria closed. Upon returning, he noticed team JNPR's door open, but not RWBY's, and he heard no activity from inside their room. Curious, Steven stood in the doorway of JNPR's room, and knocked on the door frame.

"Oh, hey Steve." Jaune said, looking up from a comic he was reading on his bed. "What's up?"

"Not much, ah… Where's team RWBY?" He asked them.

"Dunno."

"Training."

"In their room."

Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora said at the same time, before they all looked up, realizing what they just did.

Before they left, team RWBY let team JNPR in on the plan, and their intentions. They understood their reasons as to why they were leaving their friends out, and were okay with it, and agreed to keep it from Steven. And they just blew that plan into smithereens.

"Shit…" Nora muttered under her breath, earning a stern look from Ren.

"Ok… so where are they?" Steven asked again, this time very suspiciously.

" _Uuuuhh…_ nowhere." Jaune stated with as much confidence as he could muster.

" _Jaune…_ " Steven started, glaring at him.

Surprisingly, Nora was first to crack under the pressure, even though she was not the one being stared down.

"TheylefttogogetinformationonwhatRomanTorchwickandtheWhiteFangweredoingtonightanddidn'ttellyouintentionallysoyoucouldkeepdoingwhatyouhavebeendoingthelastfewnightsanddidn'twantyoutogetanywrongideas!" She blurted out all at once.

"Nora!" Ren scorned her, and Nora giggled nervously in response.

"Why would they intentionally not tell me? Why would I 'get the wrong idea'?" He asked.

Pyrrha laughed nervously. "Well, um, they said that you _might've_ , um, thought that Roman, uh, had something to do with Connor's death…" She laughed nervously again.

It immediately clicked in his head. Roman was the closest thing he had to a culprit for Connor's death, as not only was Connor and himself connected to Roman through the incident at the docks, but he could've been hired by the voice in his head or something. It was a stretch, but it was all he had.

"Sonuva…" Steven began, turning around and running into his room, changing into his armor, and grabbing his Desert Eagle.

"Steven, wait!" Jaune said, blocking Steven's doorway. "You shouldn't go after them because you're mad at them, they were just looking out for you!" He pleaded with him.

"I'm not mad at them for anything, I'm only disappointed that they won't allow me to take down my _best friends' potential killer_!" He reasoned, pushing through Jaune in the process.

"And just _how_ do you plan on finding them?" Pyrrha asked as Steven began to walk down the hallway. He simply held up his scroll.

Every scroll was equipped with a GPS chip, linked with the CCT that told them where they were, and gave them directions. It also had the additional benefit of being able to track other scrolls that belonged to certain contacts, provided they shared their GPS information with each other, which all nine of them have done with one another a long time ago. He just needed to look at his scroll to know _exactly_ where they were, and right now, they were all moving rapidly down the freeway in Vale.

* * *

 _Three hours ago…_

* * *

"Woooow! I forget how big the Transmit tower looks up close!" Ruby says, excited, as her and Weiss near the CCT for their objective.

"You should see the one in Atlas!" Weiss half boasted.

"That was the _first_ one, right?" Ruby asked.

"Correct." Weiss answered. "Atlas developed the Cross Continental Transmit System to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War"

"Oooh, look at me! My name's Weiss! I know facts! I'm rich!" Ruby teases her partner, acting all high and mighty. Ruby snorts into her hands at Weiss' frown.

"Don't be a pest!" She scolds Ruby. "Besides, the only reason _we're_ here is because you like the tower so much! We could have just as easily made a call from the library!"

"I know, but it's so _coool_!" She says with excitement. "Ooh, I'm going to take a picture!" Ruby then takes her scroll out of her pocket, but in her excitement, she fumbles it, and is thrown from her hands, bouncing along the pavement until it lands at someone's feet, and that person is no other than Penny Poledina.

Penny then picks up the scroll, and hands it to the unfortunate fumbler. "You dropped this."

" _Penny?!_ " Ruby asks, shocked.

" _Ummm…_ " Penny mumbles, equally as surprised.

"Where have you been?" Ruby asked, concerned this time. "We haven't seen you since that night at the docks!"

"S-Sorry. I think you're confused. – _hic-_ " She says nervously, before hiccupping randomly, causing Ruby's scroll to be thrown into her hands, as Penny quickly turns around, and walks away at a fast pace.

Weiss turns to Ruby. "What was that about?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Ruby declares as she begins walking after Penny, turning to speak to Weiss as she walks. "You go make your call! I'll meet up with you later!"

Weiss reaches after Ruby in a futile protest. "Wait!" She calls, but quickly realizes her efforts are in vain, and instead settles for an angry sigh.

Ruby runs after Penny, not stopping until she's in front of her. "Penny! Where have you _been_? It's been weeks!" She asks, still very concerned.

"There seems to be a... misunderstanding." Penny says vaguely.

"What?!" Ruby asks, not understanding why she's being so secretive. As Penny continues trying to walk away down some stairs, Ruby continues to follow, sliding down the railing to keep up. "Penny... Is everything okay?" Ruby asks again. Penny doesn't react to the question at all, causing Ruby to fear the worst. "Penny, please stop!" she pleads, and, much to her reluctance, Penny does halt. "Look, I don't know what's wrong, but you _have_ to listen to me! Those guys we fought at the docks, we think they're up to something big, something bad! I need you to tell me what happened to you that night! _Please_... As a friend." Ruby pleads with her once more.

Penny sighs, then glances to her sides quickly, before leaning close to Ruby to whisper to her. "It isn't safe to talk here." She says, looking around her again, much to Ruby's confusion.

* * *

Weiss walks through the grand, glowing lobby of the CCT with pride, avoiding the central terminal in the room, and heading straight for the elevator doors to the side, which slide open automatically and close when she's inside.

Once inside, the CCT's AI begins to speak. "Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?" The electronically feminine voice asks her politely.

"I'd like to go to the communications room, please." Weiss requests.

"Absolutely. Could you please place your Scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?" Weiss complies, taking out her scroll, and pressing it against the scanner on the elevator's panel. "Perfect! Thank you, Miss Schnee." The AI says, before telling the elevator ascend to the requested floor.

In the elevator, Weiss's expression changes from pleasant to serious several times, trying to fake a happy and relaxed mood. She will be calling her father's company, a place she hasn't called since she left for Beacon. For all she knew, her father might pick up, and she would have to look like she was having the time of her life here just so her father wouldn't try to get her to move back to Atlas for as long as he usually did when they spoke the few times they did.

As the door opens, Weiss steps out, and walks up to the desk directly in front of her. As she nears, the CCT's AI appears as a holographic projection of a secretary behind the desk.

"Welcome to the Beacon Cross Continental Transmit center. How may I help you?" The AI asks.

"I need to make a call to Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas." Weiss tells her.

"Absolutely. If you could head over to Terminal 3, I'll patch you through." She says, smiling.

"Thank you!" Weiss smiles and nods before walking over to her assigned cubicle-like computer, passing a few Beacon students in uniform as they talk to their own relatives and friends. Once Weiss finds her assigned terminal, she sits down, and takes a deep breath for the call ahead of her.

The face of a short-haired brunette appears on the monitor with the Schnee snowflake rotating behind her. She does not realize who she is talking to until she looks up. "Thank you for calling the Atlas- Oh! Miss Schnee! Good afternoon! Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister Winter might be here as well."

"No, thank you!" Weiss says in a pleasant tone. "I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a short list."

Weiss produces her Scroll, placing it into a slot on the keyboard, creating a series of noises as the Operator looks at the data from her side of the screen.

"I see. If you don't mind... what may I ask is this for?" She asks, slightly concerned and suspicious.

"School project." Weiss replies.

"Um... There are some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am." She says nervously.

"Well, then, I'll be sure to treat them with care." Weiss assures her.

"Right... Very well." She answers, still nervous. Several noises are heard from her side of the call as she transfers the data. "The data is being transferred to your Scroll now."

"Wonderful! That will be all, then." Weiss says.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to patch you through to your father before you go?" The woman asks her again.

Weiss loses her smile at the mention of her father, but quickly replaces it.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well, then... Have a nice day!"

The call is then ended, along with Weiss' feigned happiness. However, her job is done, and she can leave now. So, Weiss happily gets up, and leaves the tower, happy to get away from anything that reminded her of her father. Now, she just needed to meet everyone by the place where Yang is, like they all agreed to.

* * *

Ruby and Penny walk down the streets of Vale, talking about what happened to the latter after the incident at the docks.

"I wish I could help you, Ruby, but I don't know anything about those men." Penny tells Ruby, referring to the White Fang at the docks.

"Well, what happened to you that night? We were all together, and then you just disappeared! Were you kidnapped?" Ruby asked, fearing the worst.

"Oh, no! Nothing like that!" Penny reassured her.

"Then where _did_ you go?"

"I've never been to another kingdom before. My father asked me not to venture out too far, but... You have to understand, my father loves me very much; he just worries a lot." Penny explains.

"Believe me, I know the feeling." Ruby says, thinking of her own father. "But why not let us know you were okay?"

"I... was asked not to talk to you. Or Weiss. Or Blake. Or Yang. Anybody, really."

"Was your dad that upset?" Ruby asked.

"No, it wasn't my father..." Penny began, but before she could fully explain, she and Ruby hear the sound of megaphones announcing something. Turning around the corner, they look to the platform in the center of a plaza where the holographic image of James Ironwood is seen before six AK-130 Androids, who are in turn standing in front of two large metal storage cases with the spear-and-shield emblem on their doors, the emblem of Atlas.

" _The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job. Wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?_ " The holographic projection asks the attending crowd, who all clap in response, several of them cheering. " _But... the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and 'fine'... Well, that's just not good enough, is it? Presenting... the Atlesian Knight-200!"_ the doors to the cases roll up, and six new, bulkier, shinier automatons stand at attention before knocking their obsolete predecessors down to the applause of the watchers. " _Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary. These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone! Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that will undoubtedly require... a human touch._ "

The last thing the General said caught Ruby's attention in particular, and she became transfixed for what came next.

"Ruby..?" Penny asked nervously.

" _So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce... the Atlesian Paladin!"_ Ironwood's image is replaced with the hologram of a robotic white behemoth, featuring hinged piston legs, large guns for hands, and a rectangular head, standing at least twice as tall as the Knights below it. Ironwoods voice still played over the crowd, but the image of the giant mech-suit remained. " _Now, we couldn't have him here for you today, but these mechanized battle suits will be seen defending the borders of our kingdom within the year!_ " he proudly announced.

Ruby, meanwhile, is literally hunched over in awe. "Whoa…." Is all she is able to mutter.

"Ruby?" Penny asks concerned. "Maybe we should go somewhere else."

At the side of the stage, two armored soldiers, human ones, see Penny, pointing her out, one of them reporting it on his radio before they begin to run towards her. Penny backs away and then breaks into a dead run, which snaps Ruby out of her weapon-awe-induced stupor.

"Penny! Wait! Where are you going?" Ruby calls after her. She then turns to look back to see the soldiers chasing after her friend, and realizing Penny's situation, swiftly follows her in an attempt to catch up down the winding alley.

The two quickly rounded the corner, with the two guards following not too far behind.

One of the guards gestures to his partner. "Down here! She went this way!" Penny and Ruby run across the street with the soldiers following them, though a honking car nearly runs one over. He manages to brace his hands against the hood, which somehow stops the vehicle, and his partner runs along after the girls. Ruby is still trying to catch up with Penny, but a high stack of crates on a flimsy support is easily cut down by Crescent Rose, causing a wooden avalanche of boxes to block the path of the pursuing soldiers. Seeing Penny right ahead of her, Ruby leaps into the air and lands on the alley wall, then uses her semblance to get a quick burst of speed before ricocheting off to grab Penny around the middle of her torso.

"This way!" Ruby grimaces as she uses her semblance to rush the two further away from their pursuers in a flash of rose petals. However the strain is too great, and they crash to the ground a short while later, with Ruby falling all the way into the street. She gets up slowly, and in her dazed state, she doesn't notice the large truck coming up from behind her until the honking is too late of a warning. She stands up just as she's about to be hit, but from out of nowhere, Penny pushes Ruby out of the way and holds her palms out.

In the split second where the two make contact, the ground beneath Penny cracks and crumbles into pieces, and the truck is lifted a little ways into the air by the girl's sheer strength. She puts it down, and the driver stares in awe at the crumples in his hood, just like the Huntress who got saved.

"Penny…?" Ruby asked with her eyes wide, uncertain and terrified.

"Are you okay?" Penny asks the truck driver, who nods, still dazed.

Penny looks at the palms of her hands, and becomes slightly frightened, before she backs away, looking at Ruby's frightened expression, then at the bystanders murmuring to each other in an attempt to understand what just happened. In her panic, she runs once more from the Atlas soldiers still chasing her down, who only just arrived at the scene, and bumps into Ruby, knocking the poor girl out of her stupor as her friend tries to get away again.

"Penny! Come back!" Ruby calls out to her as she begins to chase after Penny once more. Behind the two of them, the two Atlas soldiers have lost their target, and are currently deliberating what their next move should be, not having seen where the two of them went.

Penny comes to a stop as she gets out of the alleyway, and looks around, trying to see where to run away to next. "Um... Uh..." She mutters.

Ruby runs up behind Penny, slightly winded. "Penny! Please!" She pleads with her once more. "What is going on?! Why are you running? How did you _do_ that?!" She asked, referring to the truck.

Penny instantly becomes nervous again. "I-I can't! Everything's fine! – _hic!-_ " she lies. "I-I don't want to talk about it! – _hic!_ -"

"Penny, if you can just tell me what's wrong, I can help you!" Ruby promises her.

Penny retreats from her friend. "No! No, no! You wouldn't understand..."

"Let me _try_! You can trust me!" Ruby assures her.

Penny finally relents, and comes up to Ruby's face desperately. "You're my friend, right? You promise you're my friend?!"

"I promise." Ruby says softly to assure her she means it.

Penny is silent for a second, before she looks down at her own palms, and shows them to Ruby. "Ruby... I'm not a real girl." On Penny's hands, silvery, metallic spots are exposed, the skin having been removed from the truck. She is not a real person, she is an android.

All Ruby can say in her shocked state is "oh." And for a few long, and silent moments, nothing is said between the two, before Ruby speaks up again. "Penny, I-I don't understand..."

"Most girls are born, but I was made. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura." She explains, before turning her head to the side sadly. "I'm not real..."

Ruby unexpectedly takes Penny's hands in her own. "Of course you are. You think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?" She says.

"I don't... um..." Penny stutters, before leaning closer into Ruby. "You're... taking this _extraordinarily_ well." Penny says, confused.

"You're not like those things we saw back there." Ruby says, referring to the androids at the square earlier. Ruby taps Penny's chest, making a metallic clang. "You've got a heart, and a soul; I can feel it!" She tells her. And she was right, as Aura can only be generated by a soul. Deep down, somewhere, Penny _is_ a real person.

"Ooohh... oh Ruby" Penny cries, overjoyed at how her friend is taking the news, as she grabs Ruby into a hug and shakes her back and forth rather violently. "You're the best friend anyone could have!"

"I can see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower!" Ruby says, strained through her muffled groans.

Penny then releases Ruby, and has now returned back to her normal, extremely happy self. "Oh, he's _very_ sweet! My father's the one that built me! I'm sure you would _love_ him!"

"Wow." Ruby giggles. "He built you all by himself?"

"Well, almost! He had some help from Mr. Ironwood." She tells her.

"The General?! Wait... Is that why those soldiers were after you?" Ruby asks.

"They like to protect me, too!" Penny explains, which makes sense of everything that brought them up to this point.

Ruby scoffs. "They don't think you can protect yourself?"

"They're not sure if I'm ready yet..." Penny further explains. "One day, it will be my job to save the world, but I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the Tournament." She declares.

"Penny, what are you talking about? Save the world from _what_? We're in a time of peace!" Ruby asks, confused.

"That's not what Mr. Ironwood said..." Penny said, also confused.

Before any further questions could be asked, they were both alerted by the voice of one of the guards that was chasing them earlier. "Check down here!" He said.

Penny grabs Ruby by the shoulders. "You have to hide!" She says, before effortlessly lifting Ruby above her head, who screams and struggles as she's being carried to the dumpster nearby.

"Penny, wait! What are you doing? You don't have to go with them! I can help you!"

Penny then throws Ruby into the dumpster, and lifts the lid so they can still talk. "It's okay, Ruby. They're not bad people; I just don't want to get you in trouble." She reassures her. "Just promise me you won't tell anyone else my secret. Okay?"

"I Promise." Ruby then lowers her head into the garbage as the lid is put down, but she lifts it a little to peek at the scene outside so she can see what's going on.

"There she is!" One of the guards says.

"Sal-u-tations officers!" Penny greets them in her usual demeanor.

"Why were you running? And what happened to the other girl?" The first guard asks her as the two of them slow down to a stop in front of her.

"What _girl_? I've been by myself all day! – _hic!-_ " She replies, smiling after her loud hiccup.

"You shouldn't cause such a scene." The first guard tells her.

"Are you okay?" The first one asks, concerned.

Penny then shows them her palms. "Just a scratch."

"Penny, your father isn't going to be happy about this." The first guard says.

"Please, just come with us." The second asks her.

"Yes sir!" She responds, before doing what she is told.

Penny and the soldiers are heard walking away as Ruby looks on in sadness... until a rat screeches from below her feet, causing the young Huntress to fall and close the lid on herself.

* * *

It was now night, and in the more run-down parts of Vale, Yang and Neptune turn the corner of a street and finally come to a stop on Yang's motorcycle, Bumblebee in front of a nightclub.

Yang takes off her helmet and removes her sunglasses. "Come on, my friend's right in there." She says, gesturing to the source of some music playing nearby with her thumb. Yang then gets off the bike, revealing a very petrified Neptune, with his hair and goggles messed up.

"Cool…" He says, still dazed. "And where exactly is… here?" he asks, referring to the rather shady part of the city they were clearly in.

Inside, the owner of the establishment, Junior, is adjusting his cuffs behind the bar as his henchmen stock the shelves behind him. Other henchmen carry boxes around the place, while the others sit or stand around lazily, doing nothing.

They're all interrupted when two henchmen run in from the large doors across from the bar and dancefloor, as they are clearly panicking and shout incoherently.

"Hurry, close the door - she's coming!" One of them yells to the other, as they both quickly shut the doors and keep them that way with their bodies.

Junior walks out from the bar, and shouts at them from across the building. "What are you two idiots doing?!"

His question is answered as an explosion knocks his two henchmen to the ground and blows the doors open. Out of the smoke, walks in a familiar face to Junior, who he is certainly not happy to see.

"Guess who's back?!" Yang shouts from across the room. Yang smiles and poses as eight guns are pointed in her face with an equal number of angry henchmen behind them. Though this doesn't faze her, she stops and glares at the recording studio where the track is messing up until the frightened bear-headed DJ takes the needle off the record and retreats back under the table.

Neptune appears behind Yang, and says "Yeah, so could you define "friend" for me?" Referring to the _very_ unfriendly greeting they were given.

"Stop, stop! Nobody shoot." Junior says as he walks through the crowd of his men, straightening his tie upon going to the front of them all. "Blondie, you're here! ...Why?"

" _You_ still owe me a drink." Yang replies, grabbing Junior by the arm and dragging him through his henchmen.

* * *

In an alleyway on the other side of the city, Blake traces her fingers on a white chalk mark of three claws, before peeking around the corner, seeing a pair of horned Faunus as they are ushered into a building by a bearded man in a White Fang uniform. The chalk mark signifying that this was a meeting place for the White Fang meetings.

"This is it." She says, turning to Sun.

"You sure?" he asks. Blake glares at him and starts moving towards the entrance while unfastening her bow. "Y'know, I'm just gonna take your word for it."

The two walk inside the abandoned warehouse to a hallway filled with cases, seeing another man announcing "New recruits, keep to the right!" at the young pair as they follow.

"I don't get it." Sun says, holding out the mask he was given in his hand, which was similar, but smaller to the ones the White Fang soldiers wore. "If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?"

"The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters." Blake tells him.

"Grimm masks... That's kind of dark."

"So was the guy who started it." She retorts, as she puts the mask on her head and continues.

"Always sunshine and rainbows with you..." He says, doing the same.

The new recruits to the White Fang are moving in a line to the side of the stage, a mere few dozen compared to the hundreds of white-vested, black-hooded soldiers to their left and up above in the balconies. Blake and Sun look around themselves when they stop, and a fully-masked man with tattoos standing starts speaking before the large sheet emblazoned with the bloody wolf and claw marks, the White Fang's signature emblem.

"Thank you all for coming. For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for for so long!" the White Fang Lieutenant says.

From behind what the sheet covered, Roman Torchwick steps out, waving mockingly.

"Thank you, thank you! Please, hold your applause!"

"What's a human doing here?!" A deer Faunus recruit shouts, causing an upset uproar from the rest.

"I'm glad you asked, "Deerie"!" Roman mocks her. "Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the _worst_." He salutes as an example. "Case in point. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, _killed!_ "

"So, is he going somewhere with this?" Sun asks Blake, leaning over to her and speaking softly.

Roman continues on. " _But_ , before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I _all_ have a common enemy: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms!" The crowd changes from their upset uproar to one of reluctant, but apparent and clear agreement, cheering him on. "Government, military, even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life!" Roman lets the crowd cheer, and Sun and Blake look at each other with worried glances. "And they're _all_ pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room." Roman snaps his fingers, signaling the sheet that was covering a previously unknown object to drop, revealing an Atlesian Paladin 290 Mech, identical to the one Ruby had seen earlier, behind it, with the White Fang emblem painted on its shoulder. The crowd roars in applause.

"Whoa, that's a big robot..." Sun said.

"How did he get that?" Blake asked to no one in particular.

Roman continued on. "As some of you may have heard, this right here..." He says, banging on the metal beast next to him. "...is Atlas' newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my "employer", we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, "hit the shelves". Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine... But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?" The applause of the people before him gives him his answer.

Blake leans over to Sun, "We should get out of here."

The White Fang Lieutenant then speaks up again. "Will all new recruits, please come forward!" Ushering all of the new recruits forward ahead of the two, leaving them there, and making them stand out.

* * *

Back at the nightclub, Junior puts down his glass in frustration where he sits behind the bar, across from his 'interrogator'.

"I don't know!" He tells Yang.

"How can you not know?!" Yang replies, equally as frustrated.

"I haven't talked to him!" He replied, referring to Roman Torchwick, who had used his henchmen previously, albeit a long time ago. "I haven't even _seen_ him since the night you first came in here." He leans over to point in Yang's face. He paid up front, I lent him my men, and none of them ever. Came. Back."

Neptune rushed over to Yang's side to help her with the interrogation with a question of his own. "So where did they go?"

Junior pauses for a long moment, with a look that asked 'is this guy stupid?'. "What kind of stupid question is that? They never came back!" He restated. "Who is this guy?" He asks Yang.

Yang pushes Neptune out of the way with one hand. "Don't worry about him; worry about _me_ if I don't find out what I want!"

"I already told you everything!" Junior reaffirms. "Torchwick hired my boys, and I guess he wasn't happy with them, which is _SOMETHING I CAN RELATE TO!_ " He shouts towards his mean, who grumble and walk away from around the place in response.

"Come on, Neptune." Yang said, turning away and heading towards the exit.

"We get everything we need?" He asks.

"Well, we got everything we _can_. Hopefully the rest of the team is having better luck."

* * *

The White Fang still cheers loudly as the recruits, along with Blake and Sun, head to where they were told to go.

"What are we going to do?!" Sun whispers to Blake.

"I'm thinking…" Blake responds.

Sun watches Roman as he leans on the robot, smoking his cigar and laughing with the girl beside him, before he zeroes in on the two, frowning. " _He sees us_ …"

Blake notices an electrical junction box on the wall, and remembers Roman is the only human in the room. "He can't see in the dark." She says, unsheathing Gambol Shroud, and shooting at the box, making the whole warehouse to go dark.

"Don't let them get away!" Roman shouts through the dark.

"Sun! The window!" Blake calls out.

"Stop them!" Roman shouts again.

Inside the warehouse, the sounds of clanging metal and something powering up can be heard, before Sun and Blake jump out the windows on the higher level of the warehouse, and onto adjacent rooftops to make their escape. Behind them, the Paladin Mech crashes through the wall of the building piloted by Roman Torchwick, chasing after them as it ran below on the streets.

"So you wouldn't happen to have... oh, I don't know... some form of **backup**?!" Sun yells as the two of them run furiously from rooftop to rooftop.

"On it!" Blake shouts, taking out her scroll and calls her team.

* * *

Weiss was just leaving the CCT when she picked up the call on her scroll. Upon answering it, she recoils slightly at the volume.

" _Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back-_ " Blake begins.

" _HEEEELLLLP!_ " Sun shouts over her.

Weiss then runs out of the tower, making her way towards her teammates.

* * *

Ruby is beside the dumpster, which is now boarded up, possibly to keep a rat that was inside imprisoned within.

" _Big robot! And it's big! Really big!_ " Sun shouts over the scroll call.

"Oh, I am _not_ missing this!" Ruby declares as she begins to sprint towards the fight.

* * *

Meanwhile Yang is back on her motorcycle in her helmet and sunglasses with Neptune looking at the Scroll in her hand over her shoulder.

" _That Torchwick guy is in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's, like, controlling it or something_!" Sun shouts once more.

"Where are you guys?" Yang asks, but her question is answered when they see Blake and Sun being pursued by the robot in question on the street directly behind them.

" _HURRYYYY!_ " Sun shouts again.

"I think that was them." Neptune adds.

"Yeah, I got it." Yang retorts, putting away her scroll, and doing a 180 with her motorcycle to face the direction they saw them, and begins to pursue them.

* * *

Blake and Sun run for their lives down the streets as Roman pursues them in the Paladin, getting closer every step. As they near the end of the street, the two jump over the guardrail, and onto the freeway below without hesitation, landing safely on the roofs of two cars. Roman follows them, jumping down onto the highway, causing the asphalt and concrete below him to crack, fragment, and crumble from the impact, causing several cars to hit the mechanical behemoth, and halting traffic behind it. The collisions on the mech do nothing to move it, and Roman is quickly sprinting down the highway after Sun and Blake once more. The two then begin to run from car to car, trying desperately to get as far away from the mech as possible until help arrives.

Yang and Neptune are not far behind, jumping through the gap in the guardrail the mech made on the overpass, and onto the freeway below, before pulling up and maintaining their speed beside Roman.

"We've gotta slow it down!" Yang yelled to Neptune over the wind.

"Got it!" He responded, unsheathing the gun on his back.

The sensors equipped on the Paladin alert Roman of the threat to his side, and as a result, he sends several cars flying in their direction with the Mech's strength.

"Hold on!" Yang called out as she swerved her bike to dodge the cars. Once she dodged all of the cars, Neptune takes his gun out again, and is able to fire several blue bolts of electricity from it at the Paladin, causing Roman to grimace on the inside of the machine. Neptune then flips the gun in the air as it grows a staff, and the barrel splits into three blades, forming a trident. He then jumps from Yang's bike and stabs the Paladin in the cockpit.

Sun and Blake turn back from their car hopping to look back.

"Neptune! Hang on!" Sun shouted to his partner.

Neptune is trying his best, but the mech keeps bucking and threatens to make him fall. Closing his eyes, Sun smashes his palms together, and from the golden Aura around him, his Semblance creates two glowing outlines that copy their creator, leaping off and going back over the tops of vehicles to collide into the Paladin's front. They explode into blinding light upon contact to let Sun leap forward with his nunchuck-shotguns held high, but Roman finally turns enough to send Neptune flying off and knocking into his leader, sending both of them off the highway.

As Blake looks on from her spot, she hears a voice from her Scroll: " _Blake! I'm in Position!"_ Weiss says.

Further down the highway, Weiss jumps down from an overpass onto the middle of the highway, brandishing Myrtenaster as Roman's mech approaches. Roman charged Weiss, but she quickly spun around and plunged her blade into the ground, summoning a circle of ice across the pavement, causing the Paladin to slip and crash, flying over Weiss, and off the ramp, landing off of the highway, and in front of Ruby, who was waiting with her scythe at the ready.

The mech stands back up as the three other members of team RWBY jump in beside their leader.

Now that there were no civilians around, they were free to take down Roman safely however they could.

Deciding that now was a good time to use some of the new strategies they had created, Ruby commanded her team on the attack.

"Freezer Burn!" She commanded.

Ruby and Blake jump back out of the way, leaving Weiss and Yang. Weiss begins by performing the same move she did on the highway, plunging her sword into the ground and generating a field of ice, but she quickly jumps back as Yang came down from her high jump and Fired Ember Celica at the epicenter of the ice, creating a wave of mist that surrounds Roman.

In the mist, the Paladin begins to emit red lasers from its sensors so it can see through the fog. However, the sensors fail to notice Blake moving around the mech from the edge of the fog, and it almost misses Yang as she dashes forward through the mist. Blake approaches from behind at the same time, and Roman fires one of the Paladins arm cannons between them to take care of them. Blake and Yang jump back just in time, and Ruby appears where the explosion occurred, who then quickly attacks the weapon, causing damage to the metal.

"Checkmate!" Ruby calls out to her team, signaling Ruby and Yang to jump back while Weiss and Blake stay behind. They both use their semblances, Blake her shadows to propel herself, and Weiss her glyphs to make her move faster, repeatedly and rapidly striking the mech's feet.

Roman lifts the Paladin's right foot to crush Blake, but Weiss is able to summon a glyph under her teammate, launching her away before the blow could land on her.

Roman growls, firing the missiles on the Paladin's shoulders at the two, but are easily dodged as they backflip out of the way, the missiles only landing where they previously stood.

Finally, Weiss jumps up too high, and Roman fires a double energy blast at her. Myrtenaster is able to absorb the damage, but Weiss is thrown back, so she casts a beam of light from her weapon to the ground under Blake, forming a yellow clockwork circle that's absorbed into the Faunus girl, allowing her to slice through the remaining missiles extremely quickly as the glyph made her much quicker, causing them to explode prematurely.

Ruby then runs in, taking Weiss' place. "Ladybug!"

Ruby fires her sniper-scythe behind her, shooting herself forward and cutting at the robot's legs, then turning as Blake aims herself at the giant's feet as well. They both dash forward and attack at the same time, circling each other around the Paladin with each strike until they both launch themselves into the air and come down together on the shoulder, cutting off the left arm entirely.

Yang doesn't waste a second, jumping onto the Paladin's back and punching the top with fiery shotgun blasts. Roman is knocked around in the cabin, but seeing as he can't reach her with his remaining mechanical arm, he runs backwards through two columns and leaves her embedded in a third before backing away and turning towards her. Just as she is falling down, the remaining arm extends a closed fist, and when it punches her, she flies through the column and doesn't get up.

"Yang!" Blake cries out, petrified.

Ruby, on the other hand, is much calmer. "Don't worry! With each hit she gets stronger, and she uses that energy to fight back! That's what makes her special." She explained, referring to Yang's semblance.

Yang slowly gets back on her feet, hair burning a brilliant white as she clenches her fists.

Roman takes the initiative, and goes to finish her off as he punches Yang once more. However, he is shocked as his fist is stopped, Yang holding it in her own hand and, eyes red with rage, smashes her knuckles into the second arm, obliterating it under her force.

Getting desperate with his armless robot, Roman immediately kicks Yang to the side, but as she passes her sister and teammates, Ruby calls out "Bumblebee!"

Blake throws Gambol Shroud towards Yang as she soars through the air, holding onto the ribbon on the end. Yang catches it, still glowing with her semblance, and Blake twirls her around back towards the mech, going for the knockout blow.

Roman is able to sidestep, however, missing the hit entirely.

"We have to slow it down!" Ruby said.

"And _how_ do you propose we do that?" Weiss asked.

Ruby smirked at her partner. "Ice Flower!"

Twirling their weapons so they both point at Roman, Weiss creates a series of glyphs in front of the scythe's sniper barrel, and a single shot through the circles creates a dazzling spiral of energy that creates large icicles upon impact with the Paladin. Ruby continues to shoot as Weiss freezes the fire, and as the ice completely envelops the robot's body, Blake swings her partner around in a circle one more time, but with Roman unable to move, the Paladin is hit by the speed and power of Yang's fists, flying into the air before crashing down in a hundred pieces and a defeated criminal.

Roman gets up from the ground, slightly dazed, but unharmed. " _Just_ got this thing cleaned." He mutters to himself as he tries to brush the dirt off of his suit.

He looks up just in time to see Yang, still burning with her absorbed power, fire a single shot at the defenseless thief. However, he is saved at the last second as a two-toned girl jumps in front of him, opening her umbrella before them, deflecting the blast entirely.

The mysterious girl then collapses her umbrella, resting it on her shoulder, revealing the rest of herself.

Neo was her name, themed after Neapolitan ice cream, having the appropriate trio of colors in her hair and on her outfit. Her hair color is half pink and half brown, with white streaks on the pink side. Her eyes are different colors, her left one pink, her right one brown. As she blinks at team RWBY, her eyes switch colors. She wears a white jacket with a pink interior, brown pants, and black and white boots with very high heels. Under her jacket is a brown corset, curved in the middle and at the bottom, exposing her hips. She also wears a multitude of necklaces, which hang haphazardly around her neck. Despite her heels, she is still very short, and appears shorter than Ruby.

Neo gave a sly grin as she stood up with the umbrella over her shoulder.

"Ladies, Ice Queen…" Roman addresses his adversaries, prompting a "Hey!" from Weiss at the nickname. "Always a pleasure!" He says. "Neo, if you would…"

The pink-and-brown girl curtsies her enemies with a bow, but Yang isn't about to let them leave. She charges forward with her fist raised, ready to strike the outlaws, only to meet very little resistance as she strikes where they stood before, shards of glass falling in place of the image they saw.

Everyone gasped at what was on the other side of the glass, which was something none of them expected.

 _Minutes ago…_

Steven flew over the city as an Eagle, soaring towards where RWBY was currently at as quickly as he could. He couldn't believe they would refuse to tell him something like this, but he was more upset over the person they were after to begin with. It may be a stretch, but Roman was the closest person to Connor's killer they knew. Even if it wasn't him, he might know who it was with his undoubtedly deep connections in the criminal underworld.

From above, Steven could see a clear path of destruction on the highway below, which led off of the road and down below, where gunfire and sparks were currently resounding and flaring where the battle continued. 'That must be them.' He thought to himself, as he swooped down under the highway, just as the mech exploded, and changed back into his human form, landing right behind Roman. From there, he did not stop advancing behind the unsuspecting crook. Not when that random girl stepped in front of him, not when he was done saying his shpeal, not even when Roman turned around after the girl bowed to team RWBY and flashed pink for a second. The only time he stopped was when Steven's hand was at Roman's throat, and he was pressed into one of the nearby concrete pillars.

Neo quickly turned around at the sound of Roman's struggle, and quickly tried to run to his aid, swinging her umbrella at Steven's legs to knock him off his feet.

As Yang broke the glass illusion Neo put up with her semblance, she looked down in confusion, but then looked up at what was happening, the rest of team RWBY doing the same as they rushed to her side, their weapons still in their hands, ready to use. But they didn't seem to need them.

They saw Neo try to strike Steven's legs from behind, but when she skillfully and, admittedly, stylishly, swung her umbrella, it simply made a loud 'Clang!' as it struck the back of Steven's leg armor.

Steven's leg didn't budge, he was too furious to let something take him down right now. Steven turned his head in Neo's direction, still holding Roman by the neck in his right hand, his eyes bright red with rage, hatred, and revenge.

The short girl stared at him in a mixture of fear, shock, surprise, and astonishment as Steven towered over her, looking at her menacingly. Her stupor was short lived, however, as Steven released Roman, causing the criminal to slump to the ground against the pillar, gasping for air, and turned to her, before swinging his right leg into both of hers, which she was barely able to hop over just in time, but was unable to block Steven's punch to her side with his left fist. She recoiled, and decided that now was not the time to fight. Instead of fighting Steven, she decided to run.

Yang began to pursue her, but Ruby stopped her, sensing something might be wrong, and she still might be needed.

Steven then turned back to Roman, who had just stood up and was trying to limp away in the confusion, but Steven was easily able to catch up to him. Grabbing him by the back of his collar, Steven dragged Roman back to the concrete pillar he had the criminal pinned to, resuming where they left off.

Once he was pressed back into the pillar, and Steven unholstered his pistol with his left hand and pointed it directly in Roman's face, Roman tried talking his way out.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, _take it_ _easy_ there, buddy." He tried to joke. "No need to do anything rash here." He said through forced breaths.

"Who did you hire to kill Connor?" Steven demanded from him.

"Who? Oh, you mean that kid that stole my style of hat?" Roman chided. Steven pistol whipped Roman in his side, causing a shout of pain from the criminal.

"Who killed him?!" Steven asked again, getting very impatient.

"What are you going to do? Shoot me? I'm too valuable to you alive than dead!" Roman countered.

Steven tightened his grip on Roman's neck, before throwing him down to the ground behind him. When Steven was sure Roman was looking from the ground, he fired three shots from his pistol at him, one barely above, to the left, and to the right of his head.

"Steve! Don't kill him!" Blake shouted from the side. He payed no attention to them.

"Last chance." Steven warned him, aiming the barrel of his pistol at Roman's forehead.

"Look, pal, _I_ certainly didn't kill him, but-"

"Then who did?!" Steven shouted.

Roman heard a noise in the distance, and he quickly grew a sly grin. "My employer sends you her regards."

Steven had had enough. He began to squeeze the trigger, but as the hammer hit the firing pin, he was knocked back by machine gun fire from a Bullhead that had flown in behind him, unnoticed in his rage-induced state, ruining his shot. Roman then got up and quickly ran for the transport, which was piloted by none other than Neo.

Roman quickly got into the transport, and Neo didn't waste any time in taking off, leaving their enemies behind.

Steven began to run as quickly as he could to pursue, and was about to use his semblance to change into something more appropriate, but Ruby had read his mind, and after tapping Yang on the wrist, the two sisters quickly caught up to him and restrained him.

He tried to wrestle free of their arms, but they were hanging on too tightly. Steven then tried to aim his handgun at the transport, but Blake quickly came up in front of him and kicked it out of his hand, while Weiss froze his feet in place with some of the ice dust in Myrtenaster.

In a final effort of revenge-fueled rage, Steven stomped his feet on the ground, freeing them of the fragile ice, then thrashing Yang and Ruby away, but only took a few steps before falling to his knees as he watched the bullhead disappear into the horizon behind the buildings.

Steven screamed in a mixture of hatred, rage, and sorrow, breaking into tears as he fell onto his hands, and into an uncontrollable sob. Ruby quickly came to his side, Yang to his other, as they held onto his arms, much more gently this time. Ruby leaned up against him, wrapping her arms around him to comfort him as he kept on weeping, eventually collapsing to his left, and into Ruby, who continued to hold him in her arms, beginning to cry a bit herself.

Ruby could only think of one thing to say. It may not help him, but it was all she could think of.

Ruby spoke into Steven's ear. "We're sorry, Steve…"

* * *

 _Now that our heroes have gained some new information on the White Fang and Roman Torchwick's involvement, they now have to decide what to do with that new information. And now that Steven has become aware of what they were doing, and seeing what he did to Roman in front of them, they must deal with the remorse they have gained from their exclusion of him, even if they thought they were doing what was right._

 _Not only this, but they must find out how to next deal with their enemies. Roman got away, along with is new accomplice Neo, and they were only essentially left with more questions than answers. For some, the thought of not knowing what will happen will tear them apart, while for others, it simply gives them a reason to press on, and fight harder, but not at the expense of their own health. Blake will become distracted with her obsession over trying to stop the White Fang, even neglecting her own health, while Steven grows increasingly distant from his friends._

 _But, maybe all that everyone needs is a welcome distraction. The Vytal Festival Dance, held only for students from the academies, might provide that for them, as well as an opportunity for several of our heroes to get what they have desired for a long time._

 _But will Evil let them have their fun? Tune in next time for Chapter 13: Evil Never Rests._

* * *

 **This took me a bit longer to write than I would've like to (I planned to have it done by Sunday, but shit happens ammiright?) but I'm still pleased with it. Next chapter we'll finally get into the dance at Beacon! Which, I assure you, will be great. *wink***

 **I hope you all enjoyed it! Don't forget to leave a review if you'd like, or to Favorite/Follow if you so choose.  
See you all next time! Have a good one!**


	15. Chapter 13: Evil Never Rests

**Hello everyone! I promise I'm not dead!**

 **I'm _really_ sorry I havent posted anything in like 3 weeks. Things got pretty hectic for me these last few weeks, and as a result I haven't had much time to write. I had a bout of depression in the first week, right on queue with the end of the previous chapter for reasons I would not like to disclose, and then a big community project got in the way. After that, though, some good came out of it all. I made a new friend, I think, and I got accepted to my first choice college! So I dont need to search for college anymore! Which takes a huge load off of my shoulders.**

 **This chapter took me awhile to write for many reasons. It was actually supposed to be done yesterday, but I decided to lengthen it in consolation for you guys because it took so long with a chapter of over 17k words. In the future, I am going to try to stick to my 'one chapter every other week' rule better. So I apologize to you all for that.**

 **For the record, I do not plan on ever stopping on this story until it is complete. I want to see it through until the end, and I will _not_ stop this story until it is rightfully concluded. It will not be rushed, it will not be hiatus'd, I will see it through.**

 **In related news, my new cover art is finished, and ready to be posted, but I will not be posting it until at least the end of Act II, as it contains spoilers for Act III. (hehehe)**

 **There are about 2 to 3 more chapters of Act II left as well.**

 **Also, 10,500 VIEWS! Like, what?! Holy crap! And on top of that, 67 followers and 64 favorites as of 11/17! That's amazing! I cannot thank you all enough, and I am glad you are all enjoying my story! Like I said, I will me sure to finish this story to the end.**

 **So this chapter is mainly the characters trying to rebuild their friendships from Chapter 12, so there isn't a lot of action, but there is a lot of great plot.**

 **Now that all that is out of the way, time to respond to the reviews!**

 **alexwu704:** **Well, you'll have to read and find out if he'll react the way you think he might. :P**

 **Also thanks for your concerns for me, I do greatly appreciate it, I just thought I should say that real quick once more.**

 **Lil'Manuel.G: Yes, quite literally that's how every story seems to go :P and I do agree that they shouldnt have held him back, but there's a few reasons as to why I had them hold him back. Part of it is this chapter, another is to create future events, and another is that it's probably what the actual characters would do. As for your theory on Ozpin, you're 100% correct. He knows exactly who Steven is, and why he is important to Salem. You wont find out until Act III tho about what it is, although the final chapter of Act II will probably have a _small_ hint in there somewhere. And I think you will like the way events will play out for our characters.**

 **J. : It's interesting to see how several of you think the chapter should play out, you and mr. Lil'Manuel.G. So I took that into consideration a little bit, and I did a little bit of that, but you'll have to see it for yourself. I hope you like the way it played out.**

 **Guest:** **Bruh. I'm trying here XD. I'm sorry I havent gotten the chapter out sooner, but I have a life, fam. and shit seems to happen at the worst time.**

 **Alright, that's all for the reviews. I hope you like what happens this chapter, so be sure to let me know what you think of it! Dont forget to leave a review if you enjoyed it or even if you didnt enjoy it! Thanks as always everyone, and have a good day or night!**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Evil Never Rests**

* * *

" _Why…_ " Is all Steven could mutter between his sobs of anger, hate, and misery.

Presently, Ruby and Yang sat on either side of Steven. Yang was rubbing his back to try and calm him down, while Ruby was holding him in a tight hug. Weiss and Blake stood nearby, ready to take whatever came their way in terms of words thrown or help asked from their teammates.

"We… thought it would be a better idea to leave you out of this-" Yang began, only to be interrupted.

" _WHY?!_ " Steven shouted at her, sitting up and facing her with eyes red with anger. "ROMAN IS THE ONLY CONNECTION TO CONNOR'S KILLER WE HAVE! AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO INCLUDE ME IN THIS LITTLE 'MISSION' OF YOURS?!" Steven shouted, now standing up, and directly in Yang's face.

Yang's temper began to get the better of her, "We _thought_ it was a _bad idea_ to include you in this." She tried emphasizing through clenched teeth, but she couldn't help her glare into Steven's wide, red irises, her own eyes beginning to turn their own shade of red.

"You _thought_?! But you didn't _think_ to ask?!" He retaliated, getting more and more in her face.

"Hey, _sorry_ for thinking we were doing you a service by not making Connor's death harder for you!" She retaliated, getting in Steven's face now.

Steven growled at her, about to retaliate again, but Blake intervened. "Guys, let's just calm down and talk this over." She interrupted them, both still glaring at the other, as she began walking over to them. "Sure, we were wrong in our assumptions, but we also thought you might act the way you did towards Roman, and-" Blake couldn't finish her sentence when Steven pointed his handgun at her, his gaze not leaving Yang's, causing her to stop dead in her tracks.

Weiss reflexively readied Myrtenaster, but didn't act just yet. The look of fear on her face said a lot about the situation.

"HEY!" Yang shouted, seeing what Steven just did. She stepped back and raised her Ember Celica's, and got into a fighting stance. Steven didn't move an inch. "What the hell are you doing Steve?! Calm the hell down!" she shouted, but she was sending him a threat more than a plea with the way she was prepared to fight him.

"I _trusted_ you! All of you! And you just threw it out the window like a piece of garbage because you didn't tell me about something as important as this was!"

Ruby was standing behind Steven, watching the whole situation unfold in front of her. She wanted it to stop. She felt helpless. No matter what she could say, it would only make the situation worse. But right now, she had to say something, or risk the endangerment of not only her team, but her sister, her friends, and Steven's wellbeing. If he acted the way he looked like he was about to, then there would be extreme consequences for him, and Ruby wouldn't be able to handle the guilt that came along with it. After all, it was _her_ decision to leave him out of this. Hers and hers alone. It was the truth.

"We didn't want you to-" Yang began to shout, but was interrupted by an even louder shout.

"It was all my idea!" Ruby shouted, silencing everyone else.

Upon hearing her words, Steven finally moved, lowering his weapon and turning towards Ruby, his glare still on his face, his eyes still red. Ruby winced when she saw his glare, and began to tear up, afraid.

Steven stood in place, glaring at her for a moment.

"Out of all people, Ruby… I expected better from you." He said coldly.

His words hurt, and it showed on her as she winced, and clutched her heart, eyes tearing up.

Steven said no more, looked at no one else, as he began to walk away, back to Beacon.

Ruby outstretched her hand, as if she could stop him, but she only fell to her knees before beginning to cry.

Yang became infuriated, but Blake placed a hand on her shoulder, holding her back and calming her down.

"Let's just give him some time for now." She said.

Yang nodded, before going over to comfort Ruby.

* * *

The next few days were hard, particularly for Blake, Steven, and Ruby.

Steven kept to himself over the next few days, staying in his room, not eating with his friends, and not doing much else with them. He felt betrayed by his friends, and simply just needed time to himself to think things through. He had also become much more aggresive, specifically in Goodwitch's class, and it was clear to everyone. He fought strategically as always, but he was much less cautious, and took greater risks. There were even a couple times where he had to be restrained during class so he wouldn't hurt anyone.

Ruby was the one who seemed to bounce back the quickest though. At first, she was heartbroken. She felt Steven hated her for the decision she made because she thought it was best for him. The fact that Steven had been avoiding all of them didn't help her either. Several times she tried to talk to him to explain herself and to try and repair things, but he always either ignored her and walked away, or simply didn't give her the opportunity. However, as she was left with her thoughts, she did grasp some slivers of hope, and she clung tightly to them. Steven did not visibly hate them, that much was clear. Otherwise, he would probably be much more harsh and vocal towards all of them when they tried to confront him, rather than being so calm when they did. Also, there was the fact that time might just be the answer. Maybe he just needed some time alone, and eventually they could talk it out and fix things. And if Ruby could finally find him when he wanders the school at night, she could force it to happen. Then there was the fact that the Dance was coming soon, this coming Friday in fact. If she could talk to Steven, maybe she could get him to go with her. It wouldn't be in the way she hoped it could have been, she had originally hoped that she could ask him out, and maybe revealed her true feelings for him at the dance, but she was willing to put that on hold if it meant saving their friendship at the very least.

Blake, meanwhile, had also grown rather distant from her team. She became increasingly irritable, and lost in thought. She was clearly tired, and had been neglecting herself, losing sleep and not eating properly. The fatigue she was putting on herself was very self-evident.

* * *

That Wednesday, during Goodwitch's class, Pyrrha had just taken on all of Team CRDL on her own, and won.

"Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament." The professor assured her.

"Thank you, professor." Pyrrha responded, a smile of gratuity on her face.

"Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match." Goodwitch said, tapping on her scroll before looking around at the students. "Any volunteers?" When no one spoke up, she looked to one person in particular. "Ms. Belladonna?"

Blake slammed her book shut as she was startled out of her trance, staring wide eyed with bags under her eyes at Glynda.

"You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you –" Goodwitch began, but was stopped when someone raised their hand from behind Blake.

"I'll do it." Mercury said from behind them, now lowering his hand.

" _Mercury_ , is it?" Goodwitch asked, remembering the transfer student's name. "Very well, let's find you an opponent."

"Actually," Mercury said, putting one hand to his chin. " _I wanna fight…_ " He looked around the room. "Her." He stated, pointing at Pyrrha, who was still on the training floor.

" _Me?"_ Pyrrha asked, surprised that someone would challenge her. No one usually did that, they thought she was too good for them to have a chance.

"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished the match. I recommend you choose another partner." Goodwitch told him.

"No, it's fine!" Pyrrha assured Glynda, before turning to Mercury. "I'd be happy to oblige."

Mercury makes his way down to the stage, taking his time as he walked down the stairs. Once he steps on stage, he sized Pyrrha up, before getting into a ready stance.

The match began when Mercury began to run at her, making the first move by planting one of his feet before spinning around with his other foot in the air to kick Pyrrha as she came forward. Pyrrha blocked the blow with her shield before swiping at Mercury's exposed leg. Mercury backflips several times, dodging the attack and giving himself some space. Pyrrha then slowly gets up from her position, having not moved since her last attack. She runs at Mercury, her shield in front of her, blocking every shot Mercury fires from his boots with every kick, before bashing him in the chest with her shield. Mercury took a second with the newly created space, giving a 'hmph' that said she wasn't that bad, before jumping into the air and spinning around for a roundhouse kick, only to be blocked by Pyrrha's shield. The blast from the guns in Mercury's boots pushed Pyrrha backwards, and when she stopped, she planted herself low to the ground before putting her shield out in front, bracing it with her sword arm, as Mercury came in to hit her on her shield to try and push her out of the arena bounds. Pyrrha blocked every blow, and let Mercury kick her sword hilt away from her. Mercury came in for a hit on her exposed side, but Pyrrha was able to block it with her forearm as she used her semblance to make her sword come around her. When she pushed Mercury away with her semblance on his boots, she quickly got up, spun around, grabbing her sword in the process, and blocking the next series of high kicks Mercury threw at her. What she didn't expect, was Mercury's kick going straight for her sword, sending it into the ground beside the two of them. Mercury then took the opportunity to strike her, but Pyrrha used her semblance to minutely adjust Mercury's boots so he missed. Mercury didn't expect this to happen, the momentum from his missed kick causing him to land on the ground on all fours. When he realized just what had happened, he believed he found something important. Mercury just casually stood up and turned around, firing his boots as he jumped on her shield as Pyrrha charged him. With the new distance he created, he stood up, turned to Professor Goodwitch, with Pyrrha charging from behind again.

"I forfeit." Mercury said non-chalantly.

Pyrrha canceled her attack, running just by him, but not hurting him in any way.

"You... don't even want to try?" Pyrrha asked, surprised and let down.

Mercury shrugged. "What's the point? You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart." This upset Pyrrha. She hated those words, and glared at him upon hearing them come out of his mouth. She hated it when everyone simply thought of her as better than the rest of them. For once, she just wished that she could be considered as one of them; among them. Not above them.

"In that case..." Professor Goodwitch began, "Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match... again. Next time, you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent"

"I'll be sure to do that." Mercury says.

The bell rings, jolting Blake, who had since nodded off, awake.

"That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses." Goodwitch reminded them

Ruby quickly shot up, and glanced at the other side of the room where Steven was sitting. He had been sitting away from them ever since their run in with Torchwick, just like how he was avoiding them altogether. She wanted to force a situation where Steven would have to talk things out with them, but when she looked over to where she last saw him, he was already gone. Frustrated, but determined, she ran out of the classroom to pursue him. Upon exiting the classroom, she quickly looked around, trying to find him. Nowhere to be found, Ruby then used her semblance to quickly run to the entrance of the building; the only place Steven could go to get back to the dorms.

When she got there, however, she couldn't find him anywhere. Stepping outside of the building and looking around, he was nowhere to be seen. She was more annoyed than upset, though. She didn't let that get her down.

"Run off again?" Yang asked as the rest of team RWBY caught up with her.

" _Yeah._ " Ruby replied with an annoyed grumble.

"We'll catch him soon, don't worry." Yang flashed her a smile. Ruby returned her own smile, taking her sister's words to heart. "Come on, let's get back to our room."

The four of them began to walk back to their room. Just outside of the building they came out of, team SSSN was sitting outside, and Sun noticed them as they began to walk away. Not wanting to waste his opportunity, Sun quickly caught up to them.

"Hey, Blake!" He called from behind her, before putting his hand on her shoulder. He could tell right off the bat that something was wrong with her, she was tense, and she seemed tired and upset. "You uh, doing okay?"

Blake shuts the book she was reading, the same one she had open in Ms. Goodwitch's class. " _I'm fine._ "

Sun took this as a good sign, so he continued on with his plan. "So I hear there's this dance going on this weekend..." He said optimistically, but seeing her reaction not visibly change, he made it seem like he wasn't interested in the subject. "Ah, sounds pretty lame, but you and me, I'm thinking, not _as_ lame, huh?"

"What?" She asked.

"The dance! This weekend! You wanna go, or what?" He asked in a hopeful tone.

"I don't have time for a _stupid_ dance." Blake scolded him, making him deadpan from the rejection. "I thought _you_ of all people would get that." Blake then walks away from the rest of her team, whom are all surprised that she didn't act the exact opposite way. This was unlike her.

Something was wrong.

* * *

When they got back to the dorm, the three of them confronted her about it.

"You _what_?" Blake asked annoyed.

"We want you to go to the dance." Ruby restated with confidence as she, Yang, and Weiss stood in front of Blake, who was currently sitting on her bed.

"That's ridiculous." Blake dismissed them.

"Blake, we're worried about you. This investigation is starting to mess with your head." Yang said, concern clear in her voice.

"You can't _sleep_ ," Weiss said, beginning to count on her fingers. "you _hardly_ eat, your _grades_ have been suffering…"

"You think I care about _grades_?" She asked, then gestured to the window as she stood up. "People's _lives_ are at stake!"

Yang calmly puts a hand on Blake's, lowering it. "We _know_ , and we're all still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to." She said calmly.

"Thanks to you and Sun, we know they're operating somewhere outside of southeast Vale." Ruby added.

" _And_ , the Schnee company records singled out Vale as the primary _target_ for Dust robberies over the last few months." Weiss added.

"Don't forget about their missing military tech too." Yang said.

"But there's still unanswered questions!" Blake began to shout, extremely stressed out.

"Blake, you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open!" Ruby pointed out to her.

"All we're asking is that you take it easy for _one day_." Yang said, returning the conversation back to its original topic.

"It will be fun! Yang and I will make sure of it." Weiss said.

"Yeah! We're planning the whole event!" Yang says, pumping her fists.

" _Excuse_ me?" Blake asked with undue attitude.

"Team CFVY's away mission lasted longer than expected." Weiss began to explain.

"So, Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left off. And now we can make sure you have the perfect night." Yang finished for her.

"And once it's all over, we'll return for our search, rested and ready." Weiss concluded.

"So what do ya think?" Ruby asked, hopeful and optimistic as usual.

"I think this is a colossal waste of time." Blake said bluntly. She walks away from the group, and opens the door. Halfway through, she stops and looks back. "I'll be in the library." She then walks out and closes the door behind her.

"Great." Yang said, throwing her arms up before letting gravity bring them back down.

"She can't keep going on like this."

"Yeah." Yang agreed with her. "Look, we'll worry about her when we can figure out a way to change her mind. She's _going_ to the dance."

"Agreed." Weiss said happily.

" _And_ …" Yang began. "Steve is going too." She said with a wide grin on her face.

"What?" Ruby said, now paying attention to the conversation in front of her again.

"I _know_ you were just thinking about it." Yang said with a sly grin. Ruby mentally cursed her. She was right.

"Good idea." Weiss added. "You two would make the _perfect_ date."

Ruby grew redder by the second, rivaling the color of her cloak. "Yeah, but that all depends if he talks to us…" She said quietly, shying away, and letting her true thoughts about her situation come out.

"We'll figure that out as we go along. We've still got a couple days." Yang said optimistically, which did have a positive effect on Ruby.

"What about you Yang? Are you going to ask anyone?" Ruby asked her older sister.

"Meh… No one comes to mind." She said indifferently. "What about you, Weiss?"

"I have someone in mind." She said with a bright smile.

"Oooooh, _do_ tell." Yang said, very interested.

"You'll find out soon enough." She said, denying her fun.

* * *

That night, the subject of the dance loomed over other's heads as well. Jaune and Pyrrha were on their usual rooftop, working on Jaune's skills. Currently, Jaune and Pyrrha were swordfighting, and Jaune seemed to be gaining the upperhand as he blocked each of Pyrrha's strikes, and used any openings he had to strike her. Just as he seemed to have her in a position in his favor, where he might finally win, she swept her sword and took out his legs, causing him to fall and lose.

Pyrrha laughed, not at him, but with him. "Well done! Your swordplay's improved immensely."

"I couldn't have done it without you." Jaune replied.

Pyrrha was lucky it was dark out, otherwise she wouldn't be able to hide her small blush so easily. "So, are you ready to move on to Aura?"

" _I'm_ actually thinking maybe we just skip Aura for tonight? Might go on a jog or something." He said, looking away from her to the ground shyly. He was really nervous, and needed to think.

"Come _on_ ," She encouraged him. "I know you get frustrated, but you _must_ keep trying. I'm sure you'll discover your Semblance any day now." She added, thinking that was the problem.

"That's not it. It's just..." Jaune hesitated, before deciding against saying something. "It's dumb."

"What is it?" She asked, approaching Jaune, and placing a hand on his shoulder. " _Jaune_ , you know you can tell me."

Over the last few months, Jaune had developed feelings for Pyrrha, realizing Weiss was a sort of 'crush in the moment' sort of thing, but Pyrrha was for real. He had true feelings for her, and she seemed to have feelings for him, but there was no way to tell if they were just friendly, or if they were more than that without potentially jeopardizing their partnership, friendship, and everything.

So, what Jaune said next was in the moment. He could have come out right then and there, told her how he felt about her, how he wanted to take her to the dance, and be much more than friends. But instead, in the moment, he lied. "It's... Weiss." He immediately regretted his decision, but it was too late to go back on what he said.

" _Oh_." She deadpanned. "What about her?"

"I asked her to the dance and she shot me down" He lied, adding to it by laughing half-heartedly. "Big surprise, right?"

"Well, I believe the saying goes: There's... plenty of fish in the sea." Pyrrha said as a hint, thinking that Jaune was still interested in Weiss, not knowing it was an unintentional lie.

"That's easy for you to say. You've probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out." Jaune said, secretly voicing another reason as to why he was so hesitant: he thought she was too good for him, that she deserved better."

It was Pyrrha's turn to chuckle half-heartedly. "You'd be surprised." She said. In fact, it was the exact opposite, and Jaune's reason of doubt and hesitation was actually the precise reason no one ever approached her. But this time, she chose someone, and she just wished that _for once_ he would not see her like that.

Jaune dismissed the thought. "Oh _please_. If you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress." He chuckled. He walked away, Pyrrha dropping her fake smile as she looks to the ground, upset.

She'll find a way. She'll show him how she really feels about him, she thought. The dance will be her opportunity, and she will take it however she could.

* * *

"And finally, Pyrrha Nikos." Emerald said to Cinder, who was sitting on the bed in her Mistral uniform. The two of them and Mercury are in one of the many rooms of the dorm that was given to Mistral students for the duration of the Vytal Festival. Cinder is currently sewing together a black article of clothing, Emerald is sitting on the floor, and Mercury is lying on the floor reading a comic book.

"Ah, the invincible girl." Cinder says, interested in the information of someone with such a title.

"She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible." Mercury piped in, having fought her himself.

" _Do Tell_ " Cinder said, taking a moment to stop sewing to pay attention to what he had to say.

"Her semblance is Polarity. But you'd never know just by watching." Emerald began.

"After she made contact with my boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted. But she only made slight adjustments."

"Just enough to make it look like she's untouchable. She doesn't broadcast her power, so it puts her opponent at a disadvantage" Emerald concluded.

"Hmm... People assume that she's fated for victory, when she's really taking fate into her own hands. Interesting. Add her to the list." Cinder told Emerald, who swiped around on her scroll until she took and dragged Pyrrha's file into a folder.

" _You_ should be able to take her no problem." Mercury gestured over to Cinder.

"It's not about overpowering the enemy." She began, before her tone changed into one of vengeance, and hatred. "It's about taking away what power they have." But then returned to her normal tone. "And we will, in time."

"I hate waiting." Mercury commented, lying back down on the floor, resuming his comic.

"Don't worry, Mercury. We have a _fun_ weekend ahead of us." Cinder assured him.

* * *

The next day, Ruby sat at a table in the ballroom, where the dance would be held, as her teammates Weiss and Yang were putting in the final touches for the dance just a day away. She currently was sitting there, staring off in the distance, as she rested her hand in the palm of her hand, propped up with her elbow. For the last 12 hours or so, she had been focusing on exactly how to get Steven to at least _talk_ to her without a percent risk of failure. She was broken from her trance when Weiss walked over, without Ruby realizing it, and slammed her palms on her table.

With a smile, Weiss says to her partner and leader, "I need _you_ to pick a tablecloth." As she said this, she slid two squares of the tablecloths in question closer to Ruby. Upon inspection, both squares appeared to be exactly the same in texture, color, design, and material, which deeply confused Ruby.

"Aren't they both the same?" She asked confused.

Weiss' smile immediately turned into a frown, before she sighs in frustration. "I don't even know why I asked!" Weiss storms away, while Yang carries a giant speaker over her shoulder as if it was nothing over to the stage. When she places it down, it makes a very loud thud, and the force of the impact on the ground causes the chair and table Ruby is moping in to hop into the air momentarily, Ruby not flinching the entire time.

Yang brushes her hands as she approaches Ruby. "So, have you picked out a dress yet?"

"What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Steve and Blake aren't going?" she deadpanned.

"Oh, don't worry; Blake's going." Yang added, confident in her plan.

"But what about Steve?" Ruby asked, before slamming her face into the table.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Yang said, rubbing Ruby on the back. Her attention was taken away from Ruby however when she spotted Weiss. Yang becomes exasperated upon seeing Weiss putting up doilies. "Weiss! I thought we agreed: No doilies!"

Weiss walks over to Yang and points in her face. "If _I_ don't get doilies, _you_ don't get fog machines!"

Any further bickering is interrupted as Sun and Neptune walk through the doors to the ballroom.

"Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" Neptune asks.

Weiss immediately steps up to him and acts very sweetly. "We were thinking about it..." Yang rolls her eyes from behind her, but smiles nonetheless.

"That's pretty cool." Neptune says.

"You ladies all excited for dress-up?" Sun interrupts, acting suave.

"Pfft... Yeah, right!" Ruby says, still moping at the table.

"Laugh all you want. _I'll_ be turning heads tomorrow night!" Yang said proudly.

"What are you two wearing?" Weiss asked the two boys.

"Uuhhh... _this_?" Sun said, motioning to his current, and usual apparel, which is not exactly… formal… to say the least.

Neptune steps in front of Sun, holding a hand in front of his friend's face. "Ignore him for he knows not what he says."

Sun knocks Neptune's hand away. "Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt-and-tie kind of place."

"Yeah, we noticed." Yang said. It was obvious from the start to them all.

"Soooo... what does Blake think of all this?" Sun asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "She still being all, y'know... Blake-y?"

"Obviously." Weiss said, turning away and crossing her arms in disapproval of her teammates actions.

"I still can't think of a way to change her mind." Ruby said.

"Guys." Yang began, everyone watching her as she began to walk out of the building. "Trust me; Blake _will_ be at the dance tomorrow."

* * *

The Faunus herself is sitting at one of the library tables with a holographic screen in front of her. She is obviously more sleep-deprived than ever, barely focusing on what she's seeing... until a small, bright red light appears on the screen. Moving up and down, Blake's eyes follow it down to her hand, then disappears entirely. She looks behind herself, obviously irritated, but no one walking among the tables is her culprit.

Turning back to the computer, she starts typing on the beeping keyboard before the laser dot appears on her hand briefly, prompting her to look around again and still find no one. The red point shows up on the screen, moving around in circles until Blake scowls and pounds her fists on the table. She stands up from her chair and finds the light on the floor, following it blindly through shelves of books until both the dot and its pursuer turn the corner, only for Blake to bump, shocked and shaken out of her more "animal" instincts, into her partner.

"He-lloooo!" Yang sang.

"What are you...?" Blake began frustrated, but was interrupted when Yang grabs her arm.

"We need to talk." At that, Yang forcefully takes Blake and drags her partner to an empty classroom nearby, much to Blake's protest the entire way.

* * *

Entering the empty classroom, Yang walked over to the teacher's desk in the front center of the room, and sitting on it in a meditative-like pose. Blake, meanwhile, paced back and forth next to the desk. Sensing the reason she was brought here, Blake just said what she thought.

"Yang, if you're going to tell me to stop, you may as well save your breath." She said.

"I don't want you to stop; I want you to slow down." Yang responded very calmly, collected, she wanted to show her team mate that she was being sincere with what she was asking of her teammate, as it was in her best interests.

Blake, however, remained irritated, indicated by her still-crossed arms and pacing about the room. "I _don'_ t have the luxury to slow down."

"It's not a luxury; it's a necessity." Yang insisted.

"The "necessity" is stopping Torchwick." Blake countered.

"And we're going to." Yang assures her. "But first you have to sit down and listen to what I have to say." She says, lightly patting the area on the desk in front of her.

Blake looks away and sighs, realizing she wasn't going to hear the end of it until she did so. "Fine." She finally sat down on the desk, draping her legs over the side.

"Ruby and I grew up in Patch, an island off the coast of Vale." Yang began telling her story. "Our parents were Huntsmen. Our dad taught at Signal, and our mom took on missions around the kingdom. Her name was Summer Rose, and she was, like... Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters. And then... one day she left for a mission and never came back." Yang said, hanging her head low, remembering the hard days since. Blake felt sorry for her as well. "It was tough. Ruby was really torn up, but... I think she was still too young to really get what was going on, y'know? And my dad just kind of... shut down. It wasn't long before I learned why. Summer wasn't the first love he lost; she was the second. The first... was my mom." As Yang kept talking, Blake was taken aback at what she was being told. "He wouldn't tell me everything, but I learned that the two of them had been on a team together with Summer and Qrow, and that she'd left me with him right after I was born. No one had seen her since."

"Why did she leave you?" Blake asked.

Yang sighs, turning to the chalkboard behind the desk. "That question... Why?" She says, getting up off of the desk, picking up a piece of chalk, and then proceeding to draw something on the board. "I didn't know an answer, but I was determined to find out. It was all I thought about. I would ask anyone I could about what they knew about her." She explained, going on into another tale. "Then, one day, I found something. What I thought was a clue that could lead me to answers, or maybe even my mother. I waited for Dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out. I must've walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, I was totally exhausted, but I wasn't gonna let anything stop me. When we finally got there, I could barely stand, but I didn't care; I had made it. And then I saw them. Those _burning_ red eyes..." She grimaced, remembering the day like it was just yesterday, and the feeling those eyes imprinted on her soul. "There we were: A toddler sleeping in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl too exhausted to even cry for help. We might as well have been served on a silver platter. But, as luck would have it, our uncle showed up just in time. My stubbornness should've gotten us killed that night." She finished, placing the chalk back down on the small shelf for the chalk.

"Yang... I'm sorry that happened to you, and I understand what you're trying to tell me, but this is different. I'm not a child, and this isn't just a search for answers! I can't just-"

"I _told_ you: I'm not telling you to stop!" Yang said, growing frustrated as her fists clenched on the chalk, still facing away from Blake. "I haven't! To this day, I _still_ want to know what happened to my mother and why she left me, but I will never let that search control me. We're going to find the answers we're looking for, Blake. But if we destroy ourselves in the process, what good are we?"

"You don't understand! I'm the only one who can do this!" Blake said, not reasoning with Yang or fully grasping what she was being told, instead remaining stubborn.

"No, _you_ don't understand!" Yang shouted, turning around to reveal her angry red irises. "If Roman Torchwick walked through that door, what would you do?" She asked angrily, pointing to the door.

"I'd fight him!" Blake said immediately.

"You'd _lose_!" Yang said, shoving Blake on the shoulders. With Blake's current condition, she wasn't able to react quick enough to defend herself, showing just how much she had been neglecting herself.

"I can stop him!" Blake shouts, trying to shove Yang in retaliation, but Yang doesn't move one bit.

"You can't even stop me!" She yells, shoving Blake harder into one of the desks behind her. As Blake gets up, Yang advances. Blake expects another shove, but instead Yang tightly hugs Blake, her eyes returning to their normal lilac as she shares deep care and concern for her partner, teammate, and friend. "I'm not asking you to stop. Just please, get some rest." Yang insists again, pulling back to look at her partner. "Not just for you, but for the people you care about." Yang steps away, and begins walking up the stairs past her startled teammate, heading for the exit. Before she leaves, she turns and says over her shoulder. "And if you feel like coming out tomorrow, I'll save you a dance." She winks, and then exits the classroom, leaving Blake alone to think about what just happened.

* * *

Elsewhere, Jaune was outside, in the courtyard by himself, prepping himself for his plan. Ever since that morning, Jaune had been mentally preparing himself to ask Pyrrha to the dance, even after the awkward night before. It was all a big lie, and he knew it, what he told Pyrrha. He didn't know why he said it, it just came out. So, he thought it a good idea to maybe practice a bit, get what he wanted to say perfected, and his presentation corrected. He walked back and forth with a red rose in his right hand, stopping and standing up straight periodically, mentally going over what he wanted to say over and over. At one point, upon rounding a corner to one of the exterior hallways, he stops and hides behind a corner upon hearing a certain individual's voice.

"Neptune!" Weiss calls out, running over to him, who was just around the corner himself. Jaune thought it best to stay hidden, he didn't think it would be a good idea to interrupt.

"Oh, uh, hey, what's up?" Neptune greeted the heiress.

"I know this is a little unorthodox, but... I wanted to ask you something." Weiss told him, putting her hands behind her back to look innocent. "Would you... like to accompany me to the dance tomorrow?"

And like that, Jaune strangely lost all of his confidence that he had been building up all day. It wasn't because Weiss was taken, or at least presumably, far from it in fact. It was that he knew that no matter how much he practiced, how hard he tried, his attempts would never be so natural, so straightforward, yet so meaningful as that. Not only that, but he wished that that would just happen to him for once in his life. Some may say he is just over thinking it, but to him, it made so much sense, and it felt terrible. He decided to cut his losses, and head back to his room, his spirit dampened, dropping the rose in the process.

* * *

That night, Steven headed to the spot he found most enjoyable at night. He had found the large open balcony at the end of one of the classroom hallways to be the most enjoyable. No one was there at night, it was quiet, it gave a lot of space, and it had a great view of the city at one side, and an amazing view of the Emerald forest on the other. Here, he was able to think, able to get through everything in his head. He always sat towards the center, where a bench was located near the edge, but strangely didn't sit on the bench, instead sitting on front of it, and against it. Like most nights, he always brought a pencil and his notebook that he used for drawing. Drawing was always a way for Steven to get through his thoughts. Beginning a new drawing would allow him to dedicate himself to finishing it, taking his mind off of more stressful things, and think them through more slowly as he focused on his art. He didn't usually have a predetermined idea to draw before he came there, he just drew what came to mind. Usually it reflected what he was thinking through in his head, but sometimes he drew things he saw at night, like the city or the forest. He had been spending more time out during the night as well now that his rifle was finished being worked on, but he didn't feel like going to test it. It may not even work for all he knows, but he just couldn't be bothered to do anything about it at the moment.

The last few nights, he had come upon several conclusions to his problems. For one, he had regretted the way he acted towards RWBY that night in Vale with Torchwick. He had since reasoned with himself, and understood just why they did what they did by keeping him out of it. It made him feel like an ass, as they were simply just doing what they thought was right. He didn't need to blow up the way he did, almost hurting one or all of them if he didn't calm down. But he did, and he regretted it. He hadn't come back to everyone yet because he felt so terribly about doing it in the first place, and didn't blame them for not forgiving him, figuring they didn't to begin with, but he never really looked to see if they did, he had to admit. Another thing he thought about was Connor and Jenny, more so the former. It had been awhile, about two weeks or so since Connor's death, and some ideas to the culprit have come up, thanks to Torchwick, but his answer gave more questions, which Steven simply had to stop thinking about in order to not get too worked up over it. He simply didn't know who it could be, all he knew was that it was a female, and she wasn't present at the time. It couldn't have been Neo; he believed the name of the short girl was. Her umbrella didn't fit the wound. And it wasn't Torchwick. Regardless, he thought about what he was going to do now that Connor was gone. He was a huge part of Steven's life, and to suddenly have him removed permanently was simply the worst. But the last few nights he had come upon the conclusion that Connor would want him to try to move on, to live happily, to do what he wanted to do, but to not forget him. Connor talked heavily about the tournament before his untimely demise, so Steven figured he would enter the Random competition, the only piece he was eligible for, in his honor. Jenny was another topic on Steven's mind, one that didn't quite have closure yet, understandably, but it had an epiphany to it. Steven would never stop mourning her, even if she wasn't actually dead, but he would likely never see her again, probably being on two different worlds, and the same went for Connor. But he realized that, no matter what happened to her, whether it was on Earth or on Remnant, that she would always want him to be happy, and to not let what ever happened to her to keep him down and from finding happiness. Ironically, this made him recall that conversation they had about a year and a half ago. Steven brought it up; as he felt the need to, and told her that if something was to happen to him, to not hurt herself over it, and to find happiness. Jenny returned the same wishes for him afterwards, telling him that she was thinking of bringing it up herself sooner or later.

This brought him to one last thing; Ruby Rose.

It has been clear for a long time that Ruby has feelings for him, and since he started noticing he has only acted the same as normal, as he was unsure about what to do, but didn't want to completely shut her down. Part of him wanted to say yes, and give it a try. Ruby was certainly a great person; the two had so much in common, and similar personalities. Not to mention she was really cute in her own way, mostly due to her age, but nonetheless it was there, and Steven grew fond of it. Plus, she always seemed to be there for him. Whenever he was down, or whenever he was upset, she was always there for him. When Connor died, she stayed by him, even in the interrogation room, more than he actually knew. Not only that, but she made sure she was next to him when he broke down the other night. She truly cared for him, that was extremely clear, and he cared for her just as much, he just hasn't been able to show it yet. However, the other half of him wanted to wait. The other half believed that Jenny was still out there, and that she somehow came here with him. So he waited, and as the Vytal Festival came around, and students from other kingdoms came around, and he couldn't find her, he finally remembered _that_ conversation. He finally remembered those wishes they had for each other; to not let the loss of the other person keep them from finding happiness should it ever happen, but also to not forget each other. In all honesty, he remembered this last week. The last few nights, he had been thinking about how he felt about Ruby, if he truly had feelings for her in that way, or if it was just a thing that came about because he felt alone. But, as he thought more, and more about it, realizing just how much they had in common, how much fun they had together already, how cute many of Ruby's little quirks were, and how much she reminded him of Jenny, he could safely say he has fallen head-over-heels for her. But, the worst part about it, is that now he was unsure about how she felt about him. If it were a week ago or before, the answer would be undebatable, 100% clear. But after what he did… he wasn't so sure anymore. He wouldn't blame her if she hated him now. He wanted to apologize, to her and to everyone else, for getting mad at them, for distancing himself from them, but he felt like it was too late for apologies; like the time for fixing things had passed, and that the incident with Torchwick was the final nail in the coffin. They were only trying to help him, or protect him, and he just kept to himself rather selfishly. To him, they had every right to be angry with him too, he wouldn't blame them if they were.

* * *

"So what are we working on tonight?" Jaune asked his partner as they left their room for their usual training session.

"I was thinking about defensive tactics tonight, as we worked on offensive tactics last night, so we should probably find a wider area for us to use tonight." Pyrrha said.

Jaune nodded, and the two proceeded down the hallways, making small talk along the way. Jaune had completely given up his plan on asking Pyrrha to the dance as well. He could do it tonight; they'd be alone, and he didn't need any fancy words or practiced lines, only to be himself, but he didn't know that. Especially after seeing how effortlessly Weiss asked Neptune to the dance, he was especially low on confidence at the moment.

Pyrrha was no different though. She had mentally beat herself up since last night for not just _saying it_. She had the opportunity, she had the thought, everything was right, the ball was in her court, but she didn't do it. She beat around the bush too much that Jaune didn't get the hint.

They were currently walking down the hallway where Doctor Oobleck's classroom is, having decided that the large open balcony nearby would suffice. They walked to the archway to the balcony, talking about what they should start with.

"So, you know that roll thing you do?" Jaune asked. "Y'know, like when you dodge a hit by rolling to the side?"

"You mean a 'dodge-roll'?" Pyrrha giggled.

"Yeah, that! Could you teach me how to do that? I can't quite do it as well as you can, so maybe you could-" Jaune rambled on, only to be stopped when Pyrrha had stopped without him realizing it, before grabbing onto his arm and pulling him back, and covering his mouth with her hand.

Pyrrha then let go of his arm, placing a finger in front of her lips to tell him to be quiet, causing a look of confusion on Jaune's face as she took her hand off of his mouth. He began to open it, trying to speak softly, but Pyrrha shushed him, and gave him a serious look, before pointing to the reason they were being quiet.

Jaune looked to where she was pointing, initially seeing nothing, but upon looking harder, he could see Steven sitting against the bench across the way. He instantly understood, mouthing an 'oh' in understanding, prompting a nod from Pyrrha. They had finally found Steven at night, which was a hard task to accomplish considering he never seemed to be in the same spot two nights in a row for whatever reason, and they all knew Ruby needed to find him. So they did what any good friend would do in this situation; tell them exactly where he is. Pyrrha took out her scroll from her pocket and frantically began to type a message on it, before taking Jaune and going to a different balcony.

* * *

Ruby was currently in her room with Yang and Weiss, who had finished preparing the ballroom for the dance the next night. Blake was nowhere to be seen, but it wasn't too late just yet, only about 7:52 PM, and Yang still had plenty of faith. Ruby, meanwhile, was panicking. She had the plan all thought out, what she was going to say, how she was going to do it, _where_ she was going to do it, but no matter what, it all depended on _finding_ Steven. She couldn't find him throughout the day, and knew that searching the school would be futile, as it was so large that she would be searching all night with no guarantee to find him. Yang had been comforting her the whole night, her and Weiss giving words of encouragement to Ruby, who was definitely down by this. She had a plan, and now it couldn't happen because she couldn't find him and there was no longer enough time.

Ruby received a message on her scroll, which she ignored because she couldn't be bothered to check it at the moment in her self-loathing.

"Ruby, you should really check that, it'll take your mind off of things." Yang insisted.

"I don't feel like it" She said, spreading out across Weiss' bed on her back.

"Fine, _I'll_ check it for you." Yang said, taking Ruby's scroll from her, which she did without protest. "Ooh, it's from Pyrrha!" Yang said, somewhat getting Ruby's attention, but only slightly. Yang opened the message, seeing its contents.

The message read:  
 **Ruby! Jaune and I found Steven! He's over at the balcony near Dr. Oobleck's room! Get over here before he moves! Now is your chance!**

Yang read this, and immediately her eyes grew wide. Weiss saw her reaction, and looked over Yang's shoulder to read it for herself, having the same reaction after reading it.

"Uhh… Ruby?" Yang said.

"What…" She responded, muffled through the sheets as she was turned over on her stomach.

Without warning, Ruby was grabbed by the back of her collar and forced to stand up as Yang shoved the scroll in her face. "Read it!" She commanded.

Ruby took the scroll to read it, and Weiss and Yang watched as her expression matched their own. Then, as if she was never there, Ruby simply disappeared in a cloud of red rose petals as she sped down the hallways to get to the balcony.

She went as quickly as her semblance allowed her, but she was sure to stop herself as she got close to the balcony that Pyrrha said he was at. She looked around before she went out there for Pyrrha and/or Jaune, but they were nowhere to be found. She then looked out onto the balcony, and immediately spotted him sitting in front of the bench. Ruby mentally thanked Pyrrha, and promised herself that she would thank her immensely later. Ruby took a deep breath, and decided that she didn't need her plan right now. At the moment, she just needed to make sure that Steven didn't hate them all. Her own wants would have to wait for the time being.

With a newfound courage, Ruby walked out quietly onto the balcony.

Steven stared out into the night, his notebook closed and at his right side. He simply didn't feel like drawing at the moment. He just wanted to look into the peaceful night, at the shattered moon, and at the landscape in general. He didn't notice Jaune and Pyrrha not long ago and therefore didn't notice Ruby coming up behind him either.

"Hey Steve." She greeted him as she walked around the bench and sat herself on his right.

"Hey Ruby." He returned, not really changing his gaze, but not making an effort to move, get away, or anything of the sort, which was a positive indicator for Ruby. He was done running away, now was the time to mend things.

Ruby decided it was best to start the conversation off casually, and to not get to what she was really there for just yet.

"What've you been up to?" she asked, trying to sound as friendly as possible. She hoped he wasn't still mad with her.

"Not much. Just sitting here… thinking, I guess…" He responded, not sure if he should just say what he really wanted to or not.

"Is that all you do at nights? Just think?" Ruby asked in disbelief. "Don't you get bored?"

Steven chuckled a little. "Yeah, I get pretty bored, you're right. I usually draw things at night, tonight's just different." He told her, pointing to the notebook between them.

"Mind if I take a look?" Ruby asked, genuinely interested.

"Go right ahead." He said.

"What kind of stuff do you usually draw?" Ruby asked him as she picked up his notebook and began to open it.

"Whatever comes to my mind, usually. Sometimes I'll just draw what I see, but most of the time I draw whatever I'm thinking about." Steven told her.

As Ruby looked through the notebook, she saw many drawings of many things. They were very detailed, and she was surprised that Steven wasn't so public about his artistic skills. If she had the skills he had, then she would certainly brag about them a bit, but Steven seemed to keep his talent hidden. The drawings ranged in theme, from simple outdoor scenes, to the mech Torchwick used, to some random things like a castle, or some Grimm or other animals, but some drawings stood out more to her than others. There were many pictures of Steven or Connor or everyone else here on Remnant having fun or just doing stuff together. But even more specific than that, there were several sketches of Ruby being herself; having fun, or doing something silly. There was even a portrait of her just smiling, looking into what would be the camera if there was one, but instead it was looking into the artist's mind, which he translated onto paper. The drawing looked identical to her own face, so much that it was hard to believe Steven didn't use a photograph for reference.

Another thing stood out to her, but it wasn't something in the notebook, it was what Steven said before she looked in it; Steven drew whatever came to his mind. That meant he was _thinking_ about her.

"Steven, these… these are beautiful!" She finally spoke up in disbelief and awe.

Steven didn't say anything; instead figuring now was the best time to mend things.

"Ruby…" he said, finally turning his head and looking her in the eyes. "I'm… really, _really_ sorry for doing what I did last weekend. I blew up at you guys, and I almost hurt you all, and all you were trying to do was protect me." He said, tearing up a bit. "I don't blame you if you guys hate me, I probably deserve it." He finished, looking away from her gaze, unable to bear its weight on him any longer.

"Steve…" She began, putting his notebook aside. Steven returned her gaze reluctantly, which she took as a sign to continue. "We should be the ones apologizing. We feel _really_ bad about leaving you out, all of us do! We were beginning to think you hated us, and we didn't blame you for that either. I've been trying to catch you this entire week to tell you this, but we haven't been able to find you." She said, unknowingly putting her hand on Steven's partway through their conversation, causing Steven to blush and his eyes to grow wide. "So, we are all sorry. Weiss, Blake, Yang, Team JNPR, and I, we're all sorry for doing what we did. And we all miss you being around us. We forgive you for lashing out at us, we deserved it, but what's worse is that you're not around much anymore, and you're beating yourself up over this."

Steven was speechless, to say the least. He didn't know how to respond; instead he opted to just look back into Ruby's silver eyes, which she took as a sign to continue.

"So, we want to try to make it up to you, me especially, as it was kinda my idea." She laughed nervously.

"Ruby, you don't have to do anything. If anything, I should be the one-"

"I want to take you to the dance tomorrow night!" She said all at once, shutting her eyes in fear of his reaction, and judging by the silence that followed, she was worried about what he was thinking.

Many moments of silence went by, neither person daring to make a noise for what felt like years, until Steven spoke up. "… What?" He asked, not sure if he heard her correctly.

"… Steve… I _really_ want to go to the dance, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me." She restated.

Steven looked down in thought. 'Did she really just ask me to the dance?' he thought to himself, 'even after being a total jerk to her and everyone else?' He thought. "You don't _… hate_ me?" He asked, somewhat confused.

"No! I've never been mad at you, and I never will be!" She said, tears now forming in her eyes. Not tears of sadness, not tears of fear, but tears of heartfelt sincerity, of truth, and, secretly, _love_. But, she couldn't keep enough self-control from saying what was on her mind, what she has wanted to say for _so long_! Something she wanted to say tomorrow where the time would be right and the feeling would mean so much more, but she couldn't contain it. Before Steven could say another word, and directly after her last statement, she let slip one important thing; "Steven, I'm in _love_ with you! How could I _possibly_ be mad at you?" She froze, gasping as she realized what she just said, and putting both of her hands over her mouth, before turning her gaze over to his own as her eyes grew wide with fear, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. She instantly wanted to take back what she said, she wanted to go run away and never come back.

But something stopped her.

In Steven's head, it was like a dream come true. The girl of his affections returning the feelings for once, which had only happened once before, but nonetheless, the feeling of that kind of moment has not changed, not one bit. He was so overcome with joy, but also with complete shock and disbelief, that he was simply speechless. Instead, his actions spoke for him where words could not.

Steven took Ruby and embraced her in a tight hug, which she quickly returned, sobbing into his shoulder, half out of happiness, and half out of fear. She was still unsure how he felt about her, he hasn't said anything yet, not until he spoke through his own tears, his own sobs, about how he felt.

"Ruby… _I love you too_ …I've wanted to tell you this for weeks, but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it." He said, sobbing in happiness, his words causing Ruby to become elated, and her tears to be not ones of fearful uncertainty, but ones of joy, of pure, and true happiness.

"I've loved you ever since that day you took me with you to Vale, where we went shopping and then you took me out to lunch!" She said through her sobs. "I fell in love with the caring, happy, funny, and kind soul inside of you that came out when you were around us, and I don't want to stop loving it for a single moment, and I haven't since!" She cried. "And I _never_ want to!"

"I've fallen head over heels for you Ruby! I've fallen in love with your infectious happiness that you carry with you every day, with your look on the things ahead and around you, with your undying friendliness, with your care for your team and those around you, and the very fire that drives you each and every day!" He declared between sobs. "And I _never_ want to leave your side!"

They both pulled back from the other, looking into each other's eyes; Silver into Brown, and Brown into Silver, before they leaned into each other, and kissed happily.

To many, it would look like an ordinary kiss, and even though it was Steven's first in months, and Ruby's first, it felt like so much more to both of them. It said in seconds what they wanted to say for weeks or months, and said far more than what they said just minutes ago. It spoke of their undying love, of the unending flame in their hearts, of their unwavering connection between one another, not only between their minds and hearts, but between _their very souls_.

As they pulled back from the magical moment that was their first kiss, and Ruby's first kiss from someone not within her family, they wiped away each other's tears, looking lovingly into each other's eyes before going in for another heartfelt kiss. After what seemed like an eternity of bliss, the two pulled away for some air, where Steven decided to say some choice words. "Yes! Yes, Ruby, I _will_ go to the dance with you, and anywhere else you want me to go! My heart is yours, and I will follow you until the end of days!" Ruby was so overcome with happiness, the only way she was able to show it was through her tears of pure joy and happiness, and another kiss.

After many more loving kisses shared between their lips, they eventually elected to stay where they were, in each other's embrace, where the cold wind of the early Autumn night couldn't possibly chill them, the warmth between their bodies too strong for it to affect them. They wanted to stay like this forever, and to never end this moment.

They went on like this for longer than either would care to admit, and Ruby's long absence from her room told Yang that things were either going very well, or very badly, but she chose to believe in the former.

Eventually, Ruby fell asleep in Steven's arms as they watched the shattered moon and the night sky filled with stars, and curled up against him as he held her, protected her, and cared for her, breathing softly, and a smile on her face. Steven was getting tired himself, and didn't want to leave her out in the cold, even though he would never leave her out here on her own, it would be bad for their health. Steven carefully took an arm off of Ruby, and checked the time on his scroll, seeing it was past 10:18. He put away his scroll, and decided to bring Ruby back to her room, where she could sleep a bit more comfortably. Picking her up in his arms, he was sure to make certain that she was comfortable. Luckily, she curled up into him on her own as he picked her up and carried her back to her room.

As it got later and later, Yang grew more worried for her younger sister, but the hopeful and optimistic part of her kept overriding it in the end, but she stayed up regardless to await her return. The fact the Blake had come back to their dorm and was now asleep gave Yang more confidence, and some ease to her strains, which made her more hopeful for Ruby. So when she heard a knock on the door, she immediately sprang up, and quickly opened the door, speaking before she looked.

"So how'd it go?!" She asked before being shushed by someone unexpectedly. She opened her eyes and her face turned to one of silent, but barely so, excitement, joy, and bewilderment at the sight of her younger sister curled up against her crush, and by the way things looked, he shared the joy and happiness, carrying a smile of his own.

Yang couldn't keep her excitement contained, shaking slightly because of it. "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" She said, but before Steven could answer, she changed her mind. "No, wait! Don't tell me! Tell me tomorrow at breakfast!"

Steven chuckled. "Sure thing. Mind if I come in? Put her to bed?"

Yang stepped aside, and gestured him in. "Nope, not at all!"

Steven stepped in, saying "good evening" to Weiss as he went over to the 'bunk beds' the two shared. Weiss, like Yang, showed her happiness for Ruby and Steven, happy that the two of them had at least made up, that much was clear. The two teammates still awake watched as Steven slid Ruby into her bed, and pulled the covers over her as she snuggled up against the pillow. Steven gave her a kiss on the forehead, eliciting an " _Awwwwwww_ " from Yang, before leaving her be. Steven then walked over to Yang and Weiss, the former geeking out over what was happening. His expression growing regretful, but Yang kept her cheery smile, and Weiss her own as well.

"Guys, I'm _really_ sorry for what I've done…" He began, but Weiss held up her hand, stopping him mid-sentence, allowing Yang to speak.

"Don't worry about it. We deserved it after leaving you out of what we were doing, and we don't blame you for acting the way you did. Sure, we both got a little heated, but the point is I forgive you, and so does everyone else."

"And It's safe to say the one who you mattered the most to has made up with you as well." Weiss said, gesturing to Ruby passed out on her bed.

Steven chuckled. "yeah. So we're all good then? No grudges or anything?"

"Nope. None at all." Yang assured him. "Now get yourself to bed. You've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow!"

"Good idea. Goodnight guys, and thanks again." He said, heading for the door.

"Of course." Weiss returned.

"Don't mention it!" Yang replied.

And so ends one of the best days of Steven's life thus far.

* * *

The next morning, Ruby could wipe the smile off of her face at breakfast, much to everyone's confusion outside of team RWBY. Before heading to the cafeteria, Ruby made sure that Yang and Weiss wouldn't say anything, she wanted it to be a surprise to them. So effectually, Blake was unaware of it too.

Steven had told her that morning that he would be late to breakfast too, he needed to finish up something in his room, but he would be there for sure this time.

The entire time before Steven arrived, Nora had managed to become paranoid, as she was lead to believe that she was going to be pranked, or that the cafeteria was not going to serve pancakes anymore or something strange like that. Jaune and Pyrrha simply became confused, while Ren was indifferent. He was curious, but he didn't let his curiosity get the better of him.

* * *

Before he went to breakfast, Steven made it a point to test out his rifle modifications. The look of the rifle was generally the same, with a few upgrades that gave him slightly better control and accuracy over the weapon, but that was certainly not all he added. He essentially added another variant to the weapon, so it could be a broadsword, assault rifle, and a _sniper rifle_. Flipping the switch in the opposite direction would transform the assault rifle into the sniper, and the sword if flipped the other way.

The transformation worked something like this: Before the switch is flipped, the magazine must be removed from the weapon. When the switch is flipped, the mag well in the weapon extends forward and slightly sideways, along with the receiver. The pistol grip changes shape, allowing more stability over the rifle. The bolt of the gun lengthens, and the stock becomes thicker, and longer, and more solid. The barrel lengthens and thickens, and the muzzle break changes into a box-like one at the end. The handguard lengthens as well, and the sword blade turns into a bi-pod. The carrying handle on the top of the receiver also turns into a scope, capable of up to 20x magnification.

Then, new magazines that Steven would carry would allow the weapon to fire .50 Caliber rounds with the semi-automatic sniper rifle.

So, with his new weapon, he simply made sure the magazines loaded and the rounds chambered. He didn't want to go to the firing range; he just wanted to make sure it functioned so he could go to breakfast. And, after a bit of tweaking, it worked just as he wanted, without the live fire tests, but it still worked.

With that out of the way, he got dressed, putting on his uniform, grabbed his things for the morning's class, and went to the cafeteria to meet up with everyone for the first time in what seemed like forever.

* * *

Ruby's smile only grew when she saw Steven enter the cafeteria from behind team JNPR, so they had no idea what it was about. Nora asked if she was so happy because they were also removing pastries from the cafeteria, and when she saw Ruby smile even more, she thought that was it. In reality, though, Ruby wasn't paying attention to them.

Steven grabbed his breakfast, and then went over to sit with his friends for the first time in weeks. He sat down next to Ruby, across from Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Mornin' everyone." He greeted them all. "Good morning Ruby." He said, placing a kiss on her cheek afterwards, causing her smile to widen even further, and for those who didn't know the turnout of last night's events to be able to connect the dots.

"What…" Blake said, staring at the two of them with wide eyes, trying to understand what exactly happened in the last 12 hours to create this drastic change in events.

Nora looked a mix of relieved that her pancakes and pastries were safe, overjoyed at how events had transpired for Steven and Ruby, and upset because she was secretly jealous. Not of Ruby being with Steven, just the fact they were in a relationship in general.

Ren was happy for them, as were Jaune and Pyrrha. The latter two, however, were secretly cursing themselves on the inside. They both had strong feelings for each other, but they were unable to figure out the other half. So, they were subject to their own self-loathing for not making their feelings for the other clear yet.

"You guys are _SOOOOOO CUUUUUUUTE_!" Nora squealed.

"I see things went well last night!" Pyrrha congratulated them.

Ruby's response was simply smiling, and letting her body weight tip her to her left, stopping on Steven's shoulder, where she remained leaning on him. Steven snorted, causing the two to erupt into a short fit of giggling.

"Heh, yeah, you could say that." Steven answered them, taking a bite of his scrambled eggs.

The remainder of breakfast went on like it used to, only two of them were now in love, and were essentially inseparable. Classes went on better, everyone feeling uplifted now that Steven wasn't avoiding them, and things seemed to finally be returning to normal. Additionally, Blake was not nearly as tired as she was before, and was not zoning out in class anymore. The fact the dance was that night also had everyone excited, and because it was such an important event, the school was only having a half-day of classes so students could relax and prepare for the night.

* * *

Yang and Weiss left early from the rest of the students so they could make sure everything was set up, both dressed up in similar short, white dresses with black heels. Yang was checking in students while Weiss made sure the food and music was going smoothly.

It wasn't long before friends began showing up however.

"Ooohh, you look _beautiful_!" Yang squealed, barely able to contain her excitement as Ruby entered the ballroom, dressed in a red dress with black lace, belt, and pumps.

Ruby groaned. "Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" She said, referring to her heels. As she walked towards the podium Yang stood at, she struggled to maintain her balance, much to her older sister's amusement.

"So, where's your date?" Yang asked after calming down.

"He said he'd be a bit late, he had some things to take care of before coming here." Ruby explained.

"Yeah, we did kind of give him less than one day to get a tux, now didn't we." Yang pondered. "Eh, oh well. He's had bigger challenges before." She shrugged. "I'll let you know when he gets here."

"Can't I just stay up here with you?" Ruby asked, hopeful.

"Why don't you go see how Weiss is doing?"

"Uuuuugh. _Fine_." Ruby groaned before reluctantly walking away in her heels.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the ballroom, Sun, now dressed in a closed up black jacket, is struggling with the white tie he wore along with the jacket around his neck.

"Stupid... dumb... neck trap!" He curses the clothing accessory.

"I knew you'd look better in a tie." A familiar, friendly voice said from behind.

Sun stops his struggling and stares at the dark purple dress and bright blue bow worn by Blake, now looking like she traded her dark bags for violet eyeshadow, as she steps forward and takes him by the arm.

"Sooo, does this mean we're going... _together_?" Sun asked Blake.

"Technically, though my first dance is spoken for."

* * *

Elsewhere, Steven finally gets on his tuxedo, which is predominately black with golden buttons and a dark red trim, a white vest underneath with a dark red tie to match the trim. Before leaving, he made sure to grab one last thing; a single red rose.

Steven quickly made his way to the dance, rose in one hand. He quickly reached the doors to the ballroom, and stopped for a moment to take a deep breath. This would only be the second dance Steven had ever been to in his life. Opening the door, he was greeted by Yang, who smiled at him as he walked in.

"Why, you look rather _ravishing_ tonight, my dear." Steven said in an overly exaggerated polite British accent, with a polite bow to go along with it, pretending to take his nonexistent hat off as well.

"Why, thank you kind sir. You look mighty sharp tonight yourself." Yang said, returning the accent for the joke, which caused the two of them to chuckle.

"How's everything going?" Steven asked casually, dropping the accent.

"Pretty nicely, actually!" She replied. "Weiss says the food is coming along well, and the crowd seems to enjoy the music! Everyone seems to be having a good time!"

" _Awesome!_ " Steven exclaimed. "So, where's the lucky lady?" He asked, referring to Ruby.

"Oh, she's just over there, near the punch bowl." Yang said, pointing him in the right direction.

"Ah! Thanks!"

"Hold on just a sec." Yang told him.

"Ok, sure. What's up?" He asked.

"Go a little easy on Ruby tonight. This is her first dance, and she doesn't exactly know how to… y'know, _dance_." Yang explained.

"Heh, don't worry about it. I don't either honestly." He chuckled, causing Yang to chuckle a little herself. "We'll be just fine I think, but thank you for your concern."

"Don't mention it! Now go get 'er, Tiger!" Yang said, punching his shoulder playfully.

"You got it!" He said, waving her goodbye, before heading over to Ruby's location.

Steven made sure to stay out of her line of sight the whole way over there, so when he got behind her, he could surprise her. Once behind her, Steven slowly and gently wrapped his arms around her torso, as to not startle her.

Ruby immediately recognized who it was, and leaned into his embrace. Once he stopped wrapping his arms around her, she tilted her head up to look him in the eyes. "Hai." She greeted him with her wide smile, causing Steven to giggle a bit.

"You look _very_ beautiful tonight, Ruby." He complimented her, causing her to shy away a bit and blush. "And now you're very adorable." He added. Ruby was really cute when she shied away, and also when she pouted.

Ruby giggled, another thing Steven thought adorable, and turned around to face him, before pulling him down for a kiss.

"You look very handsome tonight yourself." She complimented him as they pulled away.

"Why, thank you." He replied, reaching behind him to grab the rose he had. "I got a little something for you." He said, still hiding it behind his back.

" _Oooh,_ what is it?" She asked, excited. Steven then exposed the rose, Ruby gasping a little at the sight. "How'd you know roses are my favorite flower?!" She asked.

Steven chuckled "You're joking right?" Ruby looked up at him confused.

"No, I'm serious. How'd you find out?" She asked, confused.

"Well, let's see. First, your last name _is Rose_ , second, your emblem _is a rose_ , and third, when you use your semblance, you leave a trail of _rose petals_." He listed.

"…. Oh yeah…" Was all Ruby could say, before the two burst into laughter.

When they calmed down, Steven did something with the rose, which did have a rather short stem. "Here, lemme put this on you." He said. Ruby leaned in, and Steven took the rose and rested it above her left ear, so the rose could poke out of her hair just in front of it.

Ruby smiled when he was finished. "How do I look?"

"Angelic." He said, taking his scroll out so she could see herself with the camera.

Her smile broadened, clearly agreeing with the statement. "I've never thought about putting a flower in my hair before." She hugged him. "Thanks, Steve!" She said, leaning up for another kiss.

"Of course." Steven then spots Jaune on the upper level, leaning over the railing, and looking slightly depressed. He was all dressed up, in a suit similar to Steven's, only with a cobalt blue trim rather than a dark red one. "Hey, did Jaune come alone?"

"Yeah…" Ruby said sadly, turning around to look at him with Steven.

"Do you see how he totally has feelings for Pyrrha?" he asked.

"And how Pyrrha definitely has a crush on Jaune?" she replied.

"Yup." They said at the same time.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.

"Jaune didn't ask Pyrrha and vice versa?"

"Precisely. Mind if I go give him a bit of a pep talk?" He asked.

"Nope! Not at all! Just come back." She said.

"Don't worry." He said, giving her a kiss before he left. "I couldn't stay away from you if I tried."

Steven then headed up the large staircase. Weiss soon joined Ruby, the two watching Yang and Blake dance, like Yang had promised the day before.

"Having fun?" Weiss asked.

"Yup! Steve got here a few minutes ago." She said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Is he the one who have you the rose?"

"Yeah. He put it in my hair." She said proudly and thoughtfully.

"Wow, he's really sweet. Most guys would pin it to their date's dress, or put it on their wrist, but that is certainly original, stylish, _and_ cute!" she praised.

"What about you? Are you having fun?"

"As much as I can, yes." Weiss began. "Half of the chefs are dunces, and the music wasn't working thirty minutes before guests arrive, but things are starting to calm down."

"That's good!" She said, before her look turned apologetic. "Sorry things didn't work out with Neptune…"

Weiss took a deep breath. "Yeah… me too."

The two watched Yang and Blake dancing, like the former promised. Soon, Yang handed Blake off to Sun, before heading over to her two teammates.

"I told you she would come." Yang said as she stood next to Ruby on the side opposite Weiss.

"Mission accomplished." Weiss declared.

"Soooo, what do we do now?" Ruby asked.

"Just have fun!" Yang exclaimed, turning away and walking back to her podium, Weiss walking off in the opposite direction, leaving Ruby alone.

"Does that mean I can change out of these stupid things and into my hood now?" Ruby shouted out to Yang, only to receive no response. "Stupid lady stilts!"

* * *

Meanwhile, more guests were arriving at the front doors, which Yang was more than happy to greet.

"You guys are just in time!" She said to the last two guests on the list, Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Mercury said.

* * *

Steven made his way up the staircase and around the second floor until he leaned against the railing next to Jaune.

"Hey man, what's up?" Steven asked. "Having fun?"

Jaune simply chuckled half-heartedly. "Yeah. Totally." He said sarcastically.

Steven sighed, and decided to just tell him straight up what he knew.

"Jaune, we all know you have a crush on Pyrrha." Steven said bluntly, causing Jaune to recoil and defend himself.

"What?! No I don't! She's my partner, I wouldn't do that!"

"Jaune, everyone sees it plain as day." Steven said, causing Jaune to deflate in defeat. "And it seems the only person who is unable to see that is Pyrrha herself because she is in love with you too, so much in fact that she doesn't know how you feel about her, so she's cautious."

"What?" Jaune asked, confused, relieved, and unsure at the same time.

"Look, lemme ask you this: why didn't you ask her to the dance?"

Jaune sighed, recalling the events of two nights ago. "I wanted to ask her to the dance, but she unintentionally put me into a corner, and when I had the opportunity to tell her I was in love with her or that I wanted to ask her to the dance, I lied, and pretended that I still like Weiss, even though I haven't had feelings like that for her in months."

"I see your predicament."

"Yeah…" Jaune sighed in defeat.

"Well, you should make the best out of this night as you can then. Plus, you never know. Pyrrha might show up later tonight and you can tell her then."

"Yeah, maybe." Jaune said, still defeated, but a little bit optimistic now.

"Ruby is just down there." Steven told him, pointing to her near the punch bowl still. "Go down there and talk to her, have some fun." He suggested.

"What about you? Aren't you coming?" Jaune asked, taking his suggestion.

"Yeah, I'll be down there with you guys, I just have to go to the bathroom first is all. I'll meet you down there."

"Alright." Jaune said, beginning to make his way towards the stairs while Steven went the opposite way towards the restroom, but he stopped after a few steps. "Hey, Steve?"

"Yeah?" Steven replied, turning to face Jaune.

"Thanks… a _lot_ … I really needed that." Jaune shyly admitted.

Steven walked up to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "What else are friends for?" Jaune then smiled, raising his fist to torso level, which Steven returned as they bumped fists. Letting go of Jaune, he then said "I'll meet you down there." before going off to the restroom.

* * *

Jaune made his way down the stairs to make as fun of a night as he could, and to hopefully gain some optimism along the way for his endeavors with Pyrrha. He got a glass of punch from the punch bowl before joining Ruby, who was still standing next to it.

"I see you came to hide at the punch bowl too?" He asked.

"Yep." Ruby responded with a pop of the 'p'.

"To the socially awkward." Jaune says, raising his glass. Ruby giggles, and the two clink glasses.

"So, where's Steve?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, he just had to go to the bathroom."

"Ok. Oh, and sorry things didn't go well with Pyrrha."

"It's fine. She probably found a better guy to go with anyways." Jaune said glumly.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, confused.

"What do _you_ mean 'what do you mean'?" Jaune asked, equally so, before taking a sip of his punch.

"Jaune, Pyrrha came to the dance alone."

Jaune choked on his drink as it went down the wrong way. "Uh, _what_?"

"Yeah. She said no one asked her to the dance." Ruby said, sympathizing with Jaune.

"Well great, now I feel terrible." Jaune said, now moping.

"It's not too late, you know." Ruby said, trying to be optimistic. "The dance basically just started."

Jaune thought about this for a moment. Ruby was right, maybe things could still be salvaged. And now that Steven has provided him with information that he could've used months ago, he had the most confidence he's ever had. "You're right. Where is she?" He asked, putting on a determined demeanor.

Ruby simply pointed as Pyrrha walked right by them towards the staircase, not noticing either of her two friends next to her.

"Right…" Jaune said, steeling himself, and straightening his posture. " _Hold my punch_."

Ruby took his punch, and no sooner had Jaune left to purse Pyrrha that Ruby took a sip from Jaune's glass purposefully.

"Hey Ruby, what did I miss?" Steven asked as he came to the side of her opposite where Jaune was, giving her a kiss upon his return.

"Uhh… Not much…" Ruby said, with a small grin. "Just helped Jaune out as a part 2 to your helpful words, I guess."

"Lemme guess, he went after Pyrrha."

"Yep." Ruby said with a pop of the 'p' again.

"I sent her that way" Steven said, causing the two to giggle. They set this all up intentionally, and it was quite comical in retrospect.

* * *

Jaune ascended the stairs behind Pyrrha in pursuit as she went out to one of the balconies that were currently devoid of people.

She stands near the railing, and peers out into the night as Jaune approaches from behind, stopping not far from behind her.

"Hey, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha turns to face him. "Hello, Jaune." She greets her in her usual tone, only slightly let-down.

"You okay?" He asked as he approached her a bit more. "I haven't seen you tonight."

"Arrived late, I'm afraid." Pyrrha said, turning back around to look out into the night again.

"Well, you _look_ really nice."

"Thank you."

"Your, uh, date isn't going to beat me up for saying that, is he?" Jaune joked, but he already knew the answer. He didn't want Pyrrha to know that he knew.

"I think you're safe for tonight." She responded, slightly saddened.

"So, where _is_ the guy?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha turns around before saying "There is no guy." She hung her head low at the admission.

"What?" Jaune asked, pretending to be surprised.

Pyrrha shook her head glumly. "Nobody asked me."

"But that's..." Jaune gestured to her. "You're Pyrrha Nikos! H-How could nobody ask you?" That was the one part Jaune genuinely didn't know.

Pyrrha turned back towards the balcony. "I've been _blessed_ with incredible talents and opportunities. I'm _constantly_ surrounded by love and praise, but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place." She said, before turning back to face him. "Everyone _assumes_ I'm too good for them. That I'm on a level they simply can't attain. It's become impossible to form _any_ sort of meaningful relationship with people. That's what I like about _you_. When we met, you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else. And thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me." She finished, looking at Jaune before she began to walk away.

Jaune was astonished. He didn't realize how much he hurt her before, but also because she just gave him a golden opportunity to tell her how he really felt.

"W-Wai-!" Jaune called to her, but Pyrrha had rounded the corner, and therefore didn't hear him. Instead, Neptune comes out onto the balcony.

"Hey, uh, Jaune, right?" Neptune asked.

Jaune sighed. "Yeah." Neptune's presence was preventing him from going after Pyrrha.

"This party's pretty _lame_ , huh? I mean, ballroom dancing. Pfft."

"Yeah." Jaune repeated glumly, before turning around and peering into the night himself.

"Cute girls, though, huh?" Neptune commented, gesturing back to the dance.

This upset Jaune quite a lot. He immediately remembered accidentally stumbling upon Weiss asking Neptune to the dance, but it seemed like he turned her down. He growled as he turned around to face Neptune. "Is that _all_ you think about?"

Neptune raised his palms to waist level. "Huh?"

"Do you even _care_ about the girls you're hitting on? How they feel about _you_?"

"Whoa!" Neptune exclaimed, raising his palms up. "Where's this coming from?"

Jaune opened his arms wide in frustration. "How could you just turn her down like that?"

"Wait, h-who?" Neptune asked, confused.

" _Weiss!_ " Jaune exclaimed.

"I, _uh_... it, uh... it just didn't work out, you know?"

"What? You think that you're too _cool,_ too many other options? Weiss Schnee asked _you_ to the dance. What in the _world_ could _possibly_ keep you from go-"

"I can't dance!" Neptune interrupted him, shamefully looking to the side.

Jaune immediately calmed down. "Beg your pardon?"

"I can't dance, man!" Neptune repeated.

"But... you're so _cool_!" Jaune said, really baffled.

"Thank you. I try really, _really_ hard."

"You would rather break a girl's heart and go to a dance _alone_ than just admit to everyone that you can't move in rhythm to music?"

"That about sums it up, yeah" Neptune confirmed.

"Well, I certainly feel a lot better about myself." Jaune said, turning back around to face the balcony.

" _Please_ don't tell anybody. Look, if you want Weiss, she's all yours. I don't wanna get in your way." Neptune pleaded, but that wasn't what Jaune wanted.

Jaune turned around to face Neptune again.

"Do you like her?" Jaune asked Neptune.

"Yeah, I mean I don't know her too well yet, but she seems pretty cool."

"Then just go _talk_ to her. No pickup lines, no _suave_ moves, just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go." Jaune said, crossing his arms as he leaned against the banister of the balcony.

"Yeah, but then-" Neptune began.

"Hey! You _don't have_ to look cool _all_ the time." Jaune said, growing irritated. "In all honesty, if you could be a little _less_ cool, I'd _really_ appreciate it."

Neptune began to visibly consider his advice. "Yeah, okay." He decides.

"Go talk to her. I guarantee it'll make her night."

"Thanks. You're a really cool guy, Jaune." Neptune says as he approaches Jaune with his fist out to bump.

"Alright, don't lie to my face." Jaune joked as he approached Neptune, meeting him halfway.

The two bump fists, and Neptune turns around to leave and take Jaune up on his advice.

Jaune sighs. "All right, only one thing left to do."

* * *

Steven, Ruby, and Yang are leaning on the upper floor railing, overlooking the rest of the dance.

"You know? I think we really needed this." Yang said.

"I certainly did." Steven responded.

"Yeah, and you did a great job planning it too!" Ruby complimented.

"Aw, thanks!" Yang said, pulling her sister into a one-armed hug as Ruby flails frantically. "It wasn't all me, though. Weiss did a lot too."

Ruby stopped struggling as the three of them looked down on Weiss as they saw Neptune approach, rubbing his neck nervously, and Weiss inviting him to sit next to her.

Yang chuffs. "Tomorrow it's back to work."

"Yep." Steven said.

"I'm sure we can handle whatever gets thrown at us." Ruby confidently says. Sudden fits of laughter draw their attention to something below. "Ex- _cept_ for that."

* * *

Below, Jaune pushed through the crowd, each person who noticed him laughing at him, as he headed towards Pyrrha. Pyrrha turned around to see what all the commotion was about.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, astonished.

Currently, Jaune is wearing a white dress with blue ribbon.

"Eh, a promise is a promise." He said, referring to the one he made two nights ago on the rooftop.

Pyrrha smiled before she quickly began to giggle, then laugh out loud. "Jaune! You didn't _have_ to!"

"Hey, an Arc never goes back on his word." He said, extending his hand to Pyrrha. "Now do you wanna stand there and laugh at me, or do _you_ wanna dance?"

Pyrrha puts her hand in his. "I would _love_ to dance." Jaune took that as his queue, pulling her to him and sweeping her away.

Nora, meanwhile, flails excitedly. "Ren. This... is... _happening_!"

Ren looks at the audience confused. "Wait, what "is happening"?"

Nora grabs Ren and drags him out to the dance floor, where they begin dancing with their teammates as in-sync as they can to a short track the DJ's put on. At the end of the track, Jaune spun Pyrrha.

"I had _no_ idea you were a dancer." Pyrrha exclaimed.

" _I_ had no idea you were so into me." Jaune responded, causing Pyrrha to develop a blush and a nervous laugh, before Jaune kissed her in front of everyone else, who cheered for them as they did so.

* * *

Neptune and Weiss are sitting on the side, meanwhile, watching things from there.

"So, what made you change your mind?" Weiss asked Neptune.

"Huh?"

"You said you were embarrassed at first. What made you come talk to me?" She asked once more.

"You're looking at him." Neptune replied, gesturing to Jaune, much to Weiss' surprise. "You got some good friends looking out for ya."

* * *

From the upper floor railing, Steven and Ruby remain leaning against the railing, watching things unfold.

"Mission: accomplished." Steven said, as he and Ruby bumped fists in victory. "Say, can you dance?" Steven asked.

"No." Ruby said glumly.

"Heh, me neither." Steven admitted.

"Really?" Ruby asked confused.

"Yup. Can't dance, I hate it."

Ruby giggled. "I'm the same way."

"So, since we both don't like dancing, you wanna, I dunno… go out to dinner? Like, somewhere other than here?"

"Sure! I'd love that!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly.

"Awesome! Let's go let Yang know we're leaving before we go though. We don't want to worry her."

* * *

Nearby the entrance, Emerald and Mercury watched the crowd intently.

"It appears all the dancers have partners." Emerald said, holding two fingers to her right ear, not noticing Steven and Ruby having already left.

" _How long do I have_?" Cinder asked from the other end of the ear-piece.

"You should probably be home by midnight, to be safe." Mercury said.

"I'll keep my eye on the clock." Cinder said, before moving on.

* * *

Steven and Ruby walk outside of the dance.

"So, what kind of restaurant did you have in mind?" Ruby asked, stopping the two as they decided together.

"I was thinking somewhere nice, as we're all dressed up alre-" Steven began, but stopped when he noticed Ruby looking over his shoulder at something. "What're you looking at?" He asked as he turned around to see what it was. He didn't expect to see what appeared to be the silhouette of someone running across the rooftops across the courtyard towards the CCT, which was currently closed to the public.

"Do you see it too?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah… I see it…" Steven said.

"We should go check it out!" Ruby declared.

"Good idea."

The two then began to walk hurriedly towards the CCT.

* * *

Outside the entrance to the CCT, Cinder, currently dressed as a cat burglar to hide her identity, stealthily approached the front of the building, silently taking out one of the guards with a chop to the back of the neck, rendering him unconscious. She then hid his body behind one of the nearby bushes, before taking his keycard and entering the tower.

Cinder freely walked inside, where there were several guards around the elevator.

"Excuse me, no one's allowed in this area." One of the guards warned her. Cinder said nothing, and kept advancing, causing the other guards to take notice. " _Stop!_ " The guard commanded her, brandishing his pistol.

* * *

Inside the elevator, two guards were heading down to take over the shifts of two other guards.

"Hey, man, do you know the Wi-Fi password?" the first one asked.

"It's Beacon, but replace the 'e' with a '3' and add a pound symbol to the end."

The elevator door opens, with Cinder waiting on the other side with a grin on her face. The two guards are surprised, and unsure what to do. As they look behind her, they can see the unconscious bodies of their comrades on the floor in various positions, causing them to become apprehensive.

Cinder then casually walked into the elevator, and as the doors closed, violent thrashing could be heard within.

* * *

Steven and Ruby arrive at the entrance to the CCT outside.

"Everything seems to be okay…" Steven begins, still searching the area.

"Wait! What's that?" Ruby asked, pointing to something behind one of the bushes.

Steven went to go check it out. He quickly grew worried upon realizing what it is. "It's a guard! He's unconscious!"

"What?! Let's get in there! We'll call someone later."

"Agreed. We need to catch whoever is in there."

Ruby and Steven took out their scrolls, typed in some coordinates, and waited momentarily for their weapons rocket-lockers to arrive, planting themselves in the cobblestone pathway.

They both quickly grabbed their respective Sniper-scythes and Assault rifle-Sniper-swords, the second half of which was unknown to everyone else at the moment.

"Let's go." Steven said as he pressed the bolt release, chambering a round. Ruby nodded, and they both quickly went inside.

* * *

The elevator to the top of the CCT opens its doors, Cinder stepping out, the two guards unconscious in the elevator. She walks towards one of the nearby consoles.

" _A party guest is leaving_ " Emerald says through her ear-piece.

Cinder sighs. "Which one?"

" _General Ironwood_ "

" _I guess the general's had enough fun for one night._ " Mercury says as from the other side of the communication.

Currently, Cinder is putting code into one of the terminals, which is soon overlaid with a black Queen Chess piece.

" _Should we intervene?"_ Emerald asks as the rest of the screens in the room flicker on and mirror the Chess piece image.

"No... we're done here." Cinder says, beginning to walk towards the elevator doors again. She stops, however, and hides as the elevator doors open unexpectedly. Ironwood is not supposed to be here yet.

Ruby and Steven walk out of the elevator, brandishing their weapons. Steven gives her a silent signal, and silently moves to the side, into the shadows and scanning the room with his rifle leveled, as Ruby kept moving forward.

"Hello?" She called, stumbling from her heels a little. "Is anyone there? Hello?"

Cinder, only detecting one threat, rises from her hiding spot, and moves towards Ruby.

"Excuse me? You know, it's not a masquerade party, so why don't you take off that-!" Ruby is interrupted as Cinder throws glass shards she conjured from dust at her. Ruby quickly spins her scythe in front of her, dispelling the projectiles.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Steven calls from behind Cinder, catching her off guard. Cinder quickly spins around to face the new threat, not expecting to see who she saw behind her. Her eyes grew wide, and as Ruby tried to knock her down to apprehend her with her scythe, only to be kicked away by Cinder. Steven fired at her now, trying to stop her, but his bullets were blocked as she somehow used her aura to block the bullets with her hand. She then got really low, and a circle of fire appeared under her as she materialized two blades out of nowhere, one in each hand, before quickly jumping into the air, putting the blades together to form a bow, and materializing and firing three arrows at once. Steven quickly dodged out of the way, before turning his gun into its broadsword. Ruby and Steven charged their opponent from in front and behind her. Somehow, she was able to block both of their blows, one with each blade. She kept up as they both deliberately attacked her at different speeds, hoping it would eventually open a window for one of them, but to no avail. Cinder then pushed them back, and forced Steven onto the side with Ruby on it by aiming arrows behind him, causing him to keep moving in her direction. Once right beside her, Cinder's smile grew, but instantly faded when the elevator doors opened once again. The three of them looked at the elevator, as Ironwood stepped out with a look of slight surprise. Ruby and Steven now looked back on their infiltrator with newfound confidence, the odds were now 3 against 1, but when they looked back, their perpetrator was nowhere to be seen. The only sign that there had been a fight was a small crater in the center of the room from some of the infiltrator's arrows.

* * *

Cinder quickly left the CCT through a series of vents, and made her way back to the ballroom, Atlesian guards hot on her trail. She dropped her mask and transformed her outfit into a black dress as she opened the doors to the ballroom, the guards entering her previous hallway as soon as she left it.

The guards barged through the second set of doors into the ballroom, expecting to find their suspect, only to have lost them in the crowd of party-goers.

Cinder taps Emerald's shoulder as her and Mercury are blending in, slow-dancing.

"May I cut in?" Cinder asks.

"Of course." Mercury replies, stepping back as Cinder takes her place.

"And how's _your_ night been?" Mercury asked.

"A little more… _exciting_ … than expected…" She responded, looking distant as she tried to hide her worry, but ultimately failed. She didn't expect anyone to walk in on her. One person, she could handle, but the second person there, she didn't expect to see this soon.

She just hoped he couldn't recognize her for her _true_ identity.

* * *

 _Out of the darkest times can come the brightest times, only for that light to quickly fade into black. Out of these slightly dark times, two beautiful relationships have sprouted between our heroes. Steven and Ruby, and Jaune and Pyrrha have finally realized the feelings the other had for them._

 _However, the dark times they have faced are nothing compared to the darkness they will soon face, to the demons they will have to overcome, and to the threats to them, their friendships, and to everything they have come to know and love._

 _Soon, the students from all of the kingdoms will undergo their missions, and it will be their first for many of them. They will be sent outside of the kingdoms to partake in missions to protect the planet. All except for Steven. Missions are for hunter teams, and Steven is not on a team. Will Ozpin make an exception? Or will he be left on his own to do something else? And what are Steven's secrets? Does Ozpin know something about him that he doesn't? When will he tell him? Why hasn't he told him? Will Connor's killer reveal themselves?"_

 _Will some of these questions be answered? Or will more questions arise? Find out next time in Chapter 14: Mission Time!_

* * *

 **I'm going to be really honest here, this chapter was also hard for me to write. At one point it was very ironic. After posting the last chapter, I decided to ask out a girl at school, and it seemed to be a sure thing for me. We had gotten to know each other over several months, and we had a lot in common. So I asked her out, but she ended up saying no. The reason this is ironic, is because she is very similar to Ruby. That's not why I fell for her, it was pure coincidence. I didnt realize it until as I was writing the chapter. And The chapter was not modeled after what happened with a better outcome to it either. The ironic part of this chapter is that it has been planned out this exact way for _months,_ and I had only just gotten around to writing it now. But the reasons Steven has feelings for Ruby is _exactly_ the reason I had feelings for the girl I had a crush on. And like I said, this was all planned in advance, _before_ I had a crush on that girl. So when the time came, I went through with it anyways. I think it actually helped me through it, but i dont know.**

 **Anyways, thanks so much for reading! dont forget to leave a review if you'd like!**

 **I'll hopefully be posting my next chapter the weekend of the 26th, but if not, expect it the weekend of the 3rd.**


	16. Chapter 14: Mission Time!

**Hey everyone! sorry I took too long to add another chapter again. This one I actually had to rewrite most of, and that took quite a long time. But, Things are progressing once more, and things are getting good again! This time we're gonna have some fighting again! :D**

 **So a couple of updates:**

 **First off, the next update may be a bit before its posted. I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled soon, and I dont know how long i will be unable to do a lot of things. Plus, its Winter vacation soon, so yeah.**

 **Next, There's only two more chapters after this until Act II ends! I know it was much shorter than Act I, but that's only because there isnt a lot of things I can add, versus act III where I will be able to add SOOO MUCH! You'll all love it, it'll be awesome.**

 **Another thing; The story has officially reached over 12,200 views! that's literally about 1000 views since last chapter! Holy crap! On top of that, we've broken 70 followers! I'm honored that I've made a story that so many of you enjoy so much, and I cant wait to continue it to the end!**

 **Also I can gladly announce that there will be plenty of new OC's in Act III. Most of them will be fighters in the Vytal tournament, but there is at least one that I have created that will become a major character.**

 **Remember the chapter where Connor died? the beginning specifically when he tells Steven about the 'Random battles' and stuff? yeah, I've got big plans for that.**

 **Lastly, the new cover art for the story will not be changed until after the last chapter of Act II has been posted, and after the first chapter for Act III has been posted.**

 **If I dont post for awhile, and not until January, then I wish everyone a happy holiday. Whatever it is you celebrate, I hope you have a great time. Have fun with your friends and family, and I'll see you in 2017!**

 **Now its time for reviews, and then you can proceed to the story as you wish :D**

 **Lil'Manuel.G:** **Let me start by saying thank you a million, man. You're essentially my biggest critic, and I enjoy every bit of your feedback. It helps me grow as an author, and I must thank you for that. So, onto your review, I agree with you that the dialogue between Steven And Ruby was kinda poorly done upon looking back on it, but it did have some strong and powerful points to it. If any of you have been able to tell already, I am a huge fan of Arkos, so I had to put Jaune and Pyrrha together before Beacon fell, or things wouldnt be better than they already in terms of story and plot. As for Cinder? You'll find out what he thinks about it in the beginning here :P as for your theory, I cannot comment on that. I hint to the truth every now and then, but I make it extremely vague on purpose. The real truth wont come out until about halfway through Act III, and I guess i can say it will be around the time Pyrrha gets chosen to be the fall maiden without spoiling anything. Your though on Ironwood and the Council? That's not actually a bad idea at all. That could become an entire tangent if I wanted it to be, but that's not the plan, at least not now it isn't. I'm glad you're enjoying my story, and as always, I look forward to your reviews.**

 ** alexwu704: Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed it! As for the line, I honestly came up with it on the spot. I have unfortunately not gotten around to playing the game yet, but I recently bought it for myself, and I cant wait to play it!**

 **Guest:** **Your damn right it's going to be amazing! and here it is! :D**

 **Guest:** **Yep! Chapter 14 is coming, and here it is :D You're gonna love the action in this one I think.**

 **And that's all for reviews. As always, dont feel afraid to leave me a review or PM telling me how i'm doing; what you liked, what you didnt like, anything and everything is welcome! until next time, here's the next chapter! Adios!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Mission Time!**

* * *

The morning after the dance, and after the infiltration of Beacon's CCT by an unknown female intruder, Steven and Ruby were called to Ozpin's office to discuss what they saw, having been given the night to rest and change, and do whatever else they pleased. They didn't do much though. They were too busy worrying about what they did and didn't see happen up there. They don't know who that was, or what they were even after. Steven couldn't help think some things either. The infiltrator wore a mask over her face, making her unidentifiable, but her eyes were easy to see, and they looked _familiar_. He couldn't place it, though. They were similar to Jenny's, especially since her eyes sometimes appeared amber in color, but these were a brighter, more vibrant shade of amber than hers. _Yet they still seemed similar_. He couldn't shake the bad feeling in his gut that came along with that. Even thinking it was impossible to be her wasn't enough to take his mind off of it for even a second. The thoughts surrounding the possibility of _if_ it _was_ in fact her, and even greater, the questions. Why was she there? What was she doing? Where has she been? And more. There was one more very important thing he gathered from last night as well. Whoever that was, she used _a bow_. And specifically, a bow that fired arrows _coincidentally_ similar in shape to the fatal wound left in Steven's deceased best friend, Connor. So naturally, It caught his attention.

* * *

Currently, professor Ozpin and General Ironwood, along with Professor Goodwitch, were waiting for the pair of students to arrive. Ironwood was pacing back and forth in front of Ozpin's desk, anxious and disturbed.

"They were here..." He began. "Ozpin, they were _here_!" He exclaimed, slamming his fist on Ozpin's desk.

"We're very much aware of that! Thank you, James." Professor Goodwitch said, unamused with his behavior.

"Fantastic! You're aware!" Ironwood exclaimed sarcastically. "Now are we going to do something about it or should we just stay the course and continue to ignore what's _right_ in front of us?!"

Before anyone could answer, an alert buzzer sounded on Ozpin's desk, signifying that someone was at the door to his office.

"Come in." Ozpin said across the room, prompting Steven and Ruby to walk into the room, now dressed in their more comfortable everyday attire.

"Sorry it took so long. Someone accidentally hit all the buttons on the elevator on the way up here." Ruby explained, and quickly added "It wasn't me." Everyone then looked over to Steven, who shrugged in response.

"Thank you for coming, Ruby. How are you feeling?" Ozpin asked.

"Okay, I guess. I'd feel better if my bad-guy-catching record wasn't O-for-three." She replied. Steven snorted, but everyone else stared silently at her. "Okay, so that's the tone we're going for, got it."

"And how about you, Steven?" Ozpin addressed him.

"I can't lie; I'm pretty upset that we couldn't catch whoever that was. I feel like there was something more we could've done." He replied in all honesty.

"Well, regardless of how it turned out in the end, I feel it's appropriate to let you know that I think what you both did last night is exactly what being a Huntsman is all about. You recognized a threat. You took action. And you did the very best you could." Ironwood commended them both.

"Thank you, sir." Ruby responded.

"Thank you, General." Steven replied.

"Now, the general here has already informed me of the events that... transpired last night, but now that you've rested, we were wondering if you had anything to add." Professor Ozpin said, returning them to the problem at hand.

"Was anyone else with her?" Professor Goodwitch asked. "Did she look familiar to you at all?"

Steven was the first to answer. "She was definitely alone. I was able to circle around her to take her by surprise, and I saw no one else. As for her identity…" He hesitated for a moment. "I… I can't say I _know_ her, but I could tell she had Amber eyes." He said. "And she used a bow." He added.

Ozpin and Goodwitch didn't react largely to that new piece of information, but they were definitely intrigued by it by the way they _did_ react, which was very slight.

"Ok. How about you, Ms. Rose? Did she seem familiar to you?" Ozpin asked her.

"I... I don't know. She was wearing a mask, and she never said anything to me. But I know she fought with glass. I don't think that was her Semblance, though. Her clothing lit up whenever she attacked."

"Save for the glass, that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby." Professor Goodwitch said to Ozpin.

"Embedding Dust into clothing is an age-old technique. It could have been anyone." Ironwood added.

"Wait. You think this girl is connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?" Ruby asked, which peaked the interest of Steven.

Ruby had told everyone about her story of how she was accepted so early to Beacon a long time ago, but he never considered the girl she saw that night was the same person tonight. And if it was who he thought it might be, even slimly, then that meant there was something running deeper than they could fathom. If this person was Jenny, then she arrived on Remnant about a week before Steven did.

"It's possible. But we still lack the required evidence to link the two together." Ozpin said to them, who were both giving him curious looks.

"Actually, I... I think I remember her saying something about a hideout, or something, in the southeast. Just outside the Kingdom." Ruby spoke up. Steven turned his head to look at her, and raised a questioning eyebrow, before giving her a look that said 'We were supposed to keep that secret!'. Ruby jabbed her elbow into his side, causing him to understand her reasoning to an extent.

"Interesting." Ozpin said, leaning back in his chair behind his desk.

Professor Goodwitch, however, was confused. "I thought you said the intruder never-"

"Thank you for your cooperation, you two." Ozpin interrupted her. "Why don't you go and spend some time with your team? You have a big day ahead of you."

"Any time." Ruby said.

"Of course." Steven said. The two then turned around and began to walk towards the door to his office.

"And Ms. Rose, Mr. Paxton, please try and be ... discreet about this matter." Ozpin said before they left.

"Of course." She said.

"Sure thing." Steven replied.

The two then exited the office, leaving the three adults alone.

A few seconds of silence followed, before Ironwood spoke up.

"Well there we have it. We send as many troops as we can to the southeast, find out exactly what's going on, and eradicate any forces that stand in our way."

Glynda growled in frustration. "Why must your answer to everything involve a triumphant display of military bravado!? You treat every situation like it's a contest of measuring di—!"

"Glynda!" Ozpin shouted, preventing her profanity.

"Well, he does." She defended herself.

"She's right." Ozpin admitted. "As much as I too would love to end this situation once and for all, we must remember that this may go beyond Vale. Beyond Beacon. And if this truly is part of some master plan for which we know not the final move, we mustn't be so bold. Nor can we risk the spread of panic."

"I have served you faithfully for years... but if you mean to tell me that your plan is to really hold the defenses, and wait—!" Ironwood began, growing frustrated.

Ozpin abruptly stands from his chair, interrupting Ironwood. "It is _not_! You're a general, James. So tell me, when you prepare to go to war, which do you send in first? The flag bearers, or the scouts?"

Ironwood was about to retaliate with a comeback, but he used his better judgement, and stopped himself. He then paced the room a bit to calm himself. Ozpin and Goodwitch watched him, all the while, Glynda with her arms crossed. Ozpin soon took his mug and walked to the window behind his desk to peer out of it. Ironwood soon calmed down, and changed the subject to something equally important.

"Oz…was that…" He began, motioning to the door.

"Yes, James… That's him." He answered before he could finish.

* * *

"That was a risky move." Weiss said, as Ruby and Steven described their meeting with the headmaster, the Atlesian General/headmaster, and Professor Goodwitch.

"No, I think you handled it well." Blake politely disagreed.

"I hope so." Ruby said nervously.

"We did fine." Steven reassured her, pulling her closer to him to reassure her, which she didn't fight.

"I'm sure everything will be alright." Yang assured her. "Oh, I know what will cheer you up!" She said, grabbing the brown cylindrical tube about the size of her forearm on one of the desks and showing it to Ruby.

"What's that?" Ruby asked, pointing to the object and tilting her head slightly.

"I don't know yet. Dad sent it to us. I thought we could open it together!" Yang said, excited.

"Ooooh! Something from home!" Ruby said, much more excited, visibly at least. She then zoomed over to Yang and wrapped herself around her, trying to grab the package. The bottom of the package pops open, and everyone watches intently as a black tube, equal in size slowly slides out before plopping on the ground. Ruby and Yang become confused, and slightly disappointed, while Weiss and Steven appear confused, and Blake appears somewhat mortified. The black tube then begins to shake, before it transforms in to a black and white Pembroke Welsh Corgi, which barks twice.

"ZWEI!" Ruby shouts gleefully.

"He sent a _dog_?" Blake asked from atop Ruby's bed, which she quickly retreated to upon learning of the dog's presence, concerned, and mortified.

"In the _mail_?" Weiss continued for Blake, equally concerned, but not nearly as afraid of it.

"Oh, he does stuff like this all the time!" Yang said, indicating that something like this was a common occurrence.

"Your father or your dog?" Blake asks, peering over the edge of Ruby's bed.

"Are you telling me that this mangy... drooling... _mutt_ " She began with distaste. "is going to wiv wif us _foweva_?" Weiss gave into Zwei's adorableness instantly. "Oh, yes he _is_ , yes he _is_! Oh, isn't he adorable!" Weiss then picked the little Corgi up in her arms and hugged it close. Zwei then licked her face, and barked again, before leaning into Ruby's hand as she pet him on the head.

"Please keep it away from my belongings." Blake said, glaring at the animal.

At that moment, the intercom beeped throughout the school, with Professor Goodwitch's voice going through.

" _Would all first-year students please report to the amphitheater?"_

"Well, we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for the week." Weiss said.

Ruby sets Zwei down and he walks over to Blake still on the top bunk, and barks, causing Blake to hiss and retreat further away on the bed.

"But you cant take him with you either." Steven replied.

"Wait, look! Dad left us a letter!" Yang said, pointing to the piece of paper hanging from Zwei's collar. She read the letter aloud. "Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang."

"Wait, where's the food?" Steven asked, looking around the room for the items in question. Not a moment later, dozens of dog food cans come out of the tube that Yang is still holding. Steven stared at them for a moment in confusion. " _…Hooowww…"_

Yang and Ruby shrugged, but they learned to just not question how their father was able to do such things, as they never got any answers.

"What is he supposed to do with those?" Weiss said, indicating that Zwei had no method of opening the cans himself while they were gone.

Yang then shakes the tube, and a can opener falls out from the tube, signaling that there were no more items in the tube. "Well, that settles it! Come on girls, Zwei will be here when we get back!" She then threw it away behind her, before grabbing her things to head out to the amphitheater like they were requested. Yang dragged Weiss out as she was talking in babytalk to Zwei over his cuteness, while Blake jumped from the bed to the desk to avoid the dog entirely, glaring at it the whole time, before she left the room herself.

"Got everything?" Ruby asked Steven.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"For your _mission_ …"

"I think you've forgotten, missions are for _teams_. I'm by myself, remember? I can't be assigned one."

"What?!" Ruby asked in disbelief and sympathy.

"Don't worry, I'll be here when you get back. Besides, I can look after Zwei while you're gone." He said, crouching down to pet the little corgi as it waddled over to him.

"But I don't _want_ to leave you two here!" She whined, hugging him tightly.

"And I don't want to be here without you, but at some point in the future, especially after we graduate, there will be times where we won't have a choice but to be separated. It's part of our line of work that we chose, and we knew it from the beginning.

"That doesn't mean I like it." She countered.

"I don't like it any more than you do." Steven kissed the top of her head. "Come on. I'll come down there with you to see you out."

"Okay." Ruby said, defeated. "Let me just grab something really quick."

"Sure. I'll be waiting outside."

Steven then stepped out of the room, leaving Ruby to her own devices, alone with Zwei. Ruby looked over to the corner of the room, where a large backpack with Beacon Academy's logo on it sat, and was rarely used by the team. She then glanced at Zwei, noting his slightly smaller size compared to the backpack, before she thought up an idea.

* * *

Steven and Ruby then headed to the amphitheater, Ruby carrying a large backpack with her as she went. Upon arriving, she placed her backpack with the luggage of her team, before she and Steven went and rejoined with them in the crowd, right behind team JNPR.

"Quiet! Quiet please. Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." Professor Goodwitch called out to the students, silencing them.

Professor Ozpin then stepped up to the front of the stage to address the students. "Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant." He began, signifying the diversity of students here in one location. "On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best." The end of his speech signaled the beginning for the students as the professor walked away from the stage, and the students began to file outside to begin signing up for missions.

Team RWBY went over to one of the many holographic mission boards. Steven waited for them by their luggage where he would say goodbye before they left.

"This is perfect! All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the southeast!" Ruby said, reminding her team that they might be able to hit two birds with one stone here; get their first mission, and further investigate Roman Torchwick and the White Fang.

"Yeah! We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip by night!" Yang said, clearly excited by the thought.

"Let's check "search and destroy"!" Weiss said, pointing at one of the missions on the board in front of them.

"Here we go! Quadrant 5 needs Grimm cleared out!" Ruby said, tapping on the holographic projection with her hand.

"Well, it's in the southeast!" Blake said.

"Sounds perfect!" Yang said.

Ruby selects the mission, and types in her name to reserve it. She hits Enter, and a red text flashes over the screen that says " _First Year Students Prohibited."_

" _Perfect"_. Weiss groaned.

"Any other ideas?" Blake asks her team.

"We _mail_ ourselves there!" Ruby says, earning a snort from Yang.

"Well, that's one option." Ozpin says as he walks over to team RWBY. "Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first-year students. It seems that _particular_ region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that you four will make your way there no matter which job you choose." He said rather ominously.

Weiss, Blake, and Yang glare at Ruby, who nervously rubs her head.

"Whatever makes you say that?" Ruby asks nervously.

"I'm still curious how you all found yourself at the docks last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a hideout in the southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals in a dance club some time ago." Ozpin began, referring to the docks incident, and the time they spied on the White Fang respectively, but unknowingly, mostly.

"Um…Well…" Ruby began.

"I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for. So how about this: instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just _bend_ them?" Ozpin said, walking past the four of them to the screen, and entering a passcode, making it available once more to team RWBY.

Team RWBY's eyes widened in happy surprise.

"There is but one catch to letting you all do this mission." Ozpin said.

"What is it? We'll do it!" Ruby promised him.

"As you all probably know, Mr. Paxton is without a team, and therefore is unable to participate on a mission by himself. Take him with you."

Ruby lit up like a Christmas tree. "Really? We can bring Steve with us?" She asked in excitement. Ozpin nodded. "We won't let you down. Thank you, professor!" Ruby said gratefully.

"Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far. But you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the Kingdom will not care." He warned them. "Stay close to your Huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission, and he can have you sent back to Beacon, if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory. Good luck."

Ozpin then takes his leave, going to possibly converse with other huntsmen teams, talk with his fellow colleagues, or even just go back to his office.

Everyone was very excited, eager even. This mission would not only help them with their investigation into the White Fang and Roman Torchwick, but it would also be the first time they fought Grimm outside of the classroom, and outside of a controlled environment since initiation. They would finally be able to put what they've learned to the test.

Ruby runs over to Steven, but hides her smile to surprise him, instead faking sadness. She immediately hugs him and buries her face in his chest to hide her grin. Steven immediately returns the hug.

"Hey, don't worry. You'll do great, Ruby. You'll be back before you know it, and I'll be here waiting for you with Zwei." Steven said, trying to reassure her.

Ruby then looked up at him, and leaned up to kiss him. He met her half way.

When Ruby and Steven came back from their embrace, Ruby couldn't hide her smile anymore.

"You're coming with us!" She cheered gleefully, unable to contain her excitement.  
"Ruby, I'm not part of a team I can't go-"

"No, Ozpin made us take you with us!" She cheered, hugging him tighter. "Not that I didn't want you to come with us anyways."

"Wait, really?" Steven asked in disbelief.

"That's right Lover Boy." Yang said, strolling up from behind Ruby with the rest of the team.

"What did you just call me?" Steven asked, unsure if he heard her right.

" _Yaaang!"_ Ruby whined.

"You heard me." Yang teased. " _You're_ coming with us!"

Steven was still in disbelief, and only stared at them all as he held Ruby's hands.

" _Well_?" Weiss asked.

"What are you waiting for?" Blake continued Weiss' thought.

"Go grab your stuff! Quick!" Ruby completed the thought.

"We're meeting up with our assigned huntsman in 15 minutes!" Yang told him.

Steven immediately began to sprint to his room, leaving team RWBY behind as he went to quickly grab his things. Unfortunately, he had to run across the campus to get to his dorm from the amphitheater, and as a result, he ran the fastest he ever ran that day, using his semblance in various ways to move faster, arriving at his room in an amazing 4 minutes. That left him 11 minutes, with a 4 minute return, leaving him effectively 7 minutes to grab all of his things. He began with the essentials; his two weapons. He was already wearing his armor, so he began to pack a bunch of ammunition next. He didn't know anything about the mission they chose, so he prepared as many things as possible, grabbing some snacks and important equipment to have in the field, such as first aid supplies, various cooking utensils, and survival tools. Lastly, he grabbed a few spare weapon parts, his sleeping bag, and his pillow, before bolting out of his room, trying to get back as quickly as he could.

4 minutes later, he met up with Team RWBY on the platform that leads to their bullhead, which was awaiting them. Fortunately for Steven, when he arrived, they were still waiting for their assigned huntsman to show up. Steven caught up to them, panting and gasping for air like he never had before, heaving almost, as he stopped next to them, putting his hand on Yang's shoulder, as she was the closes to him, to support him from falling over.

"Dang, and I thought Ruby had the speed semblance." Yang said with a little disbelief at how quickly Steven returned with all of the essentials.

Steven stood there, still catching his breath, and was trying to speak, but was panting too much, and was unable to say anything before a student ran by them shouting "Hey! Team CFVY is back!"

Many students gathered around the returning team as they began to walk down the platform. Blake ran up to Velvet Scarlatina as soon as she saw her, concerned for her fellow Faunus friend.

"Velvet? Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine." The rabbit Faunus replied. "I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me."

"Your mission was supposed to end a _week_ ago!" Weiss exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened. It was just ... there were just so many..." She said, slightly distant, and not fond of the memory. She then looked up at everyone's worried faces. "Oh, but don't worry. You first-years are just shadowing Huntsmen, so you should be fine." She assured them.

"Right." Yang said, snapping out of her worried stupor.

"I should go. Be safe, okay?" She said as a farewell to her friends.

"We can do this. We've never backed down before, and we're not going to start now." Ruby said, determined.

"Right." Blake agreed.

"Besides, it won't only be us out there! We'll be fighting alongside a genuine Huntsman!"

"Yeah!" Yang cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

"Why, hello girls!" a familiar voice from behind them shouted, before a blur came around them and stopped in front of them, which was none other than Doctor Oobleck.

Steven cleared his throat.

"Oh, yes. Sorry about that Mr. Paxton, didn't see you there." He apologized. How that was is a mystery, as he _is_ taller than the four girls next to him, who were all varying degrees of petrified at seeing their 'professional huntsman' that they were shadowing. "Who's ready to fight for their lives?"

"Professor Oobleck?" Weiss asked as if it was a nightmare.

"Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, girls, seeing as you've opted to shadow a Huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you, we will not be establishing a single base of operations; rather, we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp in any defendable locations we may stumble upon. I packed all of our essentials myself, plotted our air course, and readied the airship. And..." Oobleck gets right up in Weiss' face. "It's _**Doctor**_ Oobleck. I didn't earn the PhD for _fun_ , thank you very much!" He finished, zipping back over to where he previously stood.

Weiss looks over to Blake, who is equally as disturbed. "Uh…"

"Come now, children; according to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind Schedule!" Doctor Oobleck exclaimed, already walking down the path towards the Bullhead.

"Well, alright, then!" Ruby began, trying to sound upbeat for her team. "Looks like we're going to save the world with Doctor Oooobleck- okay yeah when you say it out loud it sounds worse." She finished, giving into the mood of her teammates half way through.

"Hey, at least it'll make it much more interesting." Steven said. He was honestly interested, not quite excited, but curious and eager to see what Doctor Oobleck had to teach them here. Steven was a history buff at heart, always was. So, he is able to see the Doctor being their huntsman that they're shadowing as positive.

Everyone groaned at him.

" **Save the world**?!" Nora shouted from behind them. The five turned around to see Team JNPR approaching from behind. "You're going on world-saving missions without us? I'm hurt... sad! Maybe a little hungry? That last one's not your fault, though. _Ren_..." She glares at her lifelong friend, who crosses his arms and turns away.

"Sounds exciting. Where ya going?" Jaune asks them.

"Oh, just outside the kingdom..." Ruby tells them.

"Hey! So are we!" Nora says.

"Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village." Pyrrha elaborated.

"Sounds cool!" Steven commented.

"We head out tomorrow." Ren says with a grin across his face.

"Then you can party with us tonight!" yet another familiar voice from behind them calls out, this time its Neptune and Sun coming from behind team JNPR, and entering the group conversation. "We're shadowing a crime specialist. All inner-city detective stuff. We get junior badges." He added, causing Jaune to become awestruck and secretly overcome with jealousy.

"We normally go to the city with you guys, _which_ means stuff's always exploding and junk, so we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's, you know... normal." Sun explains.

"Well-" Ruby begins, but is interrupted by Dr. Oobleck calling out from the Bullhead behind team RWBY.

" _Four_ minutes, students!" He shouted.

"Well, uh… wish us luck!" Ruby says to their friends with two thumbs up, before team RWBY and Steven head for their transport, and the other go back into Beacon Academy to prepare for their mission tomorrow.

The five enter the small airship, and team RWBY sits down on the seats in the passenger area, while Steven and Doctor Oobleck stand, holding handles connected to bars running across the ceiling.

"Next stop… Adventure!" Oobleck called. No sooner than that, does the ramp to the ship retract and the side doors close. The engines are then heard igniting outside of the ship, and the craft takes off towards the South East.

* * *

"I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter." Yang said to Dr. Oobleck over the loud turbine engines of the craft. Currently, the doors were open as the five students and one teacher neared their final destination, passing over abandoned, decaying and crumbling buildings as they got closer.

"I admit I fancy myself more of an intellectual, but I can assure you, as a Huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles." Oobleck responded.

Ruby tilts her head in confusion. "Like the mushroom?" she asks.

Blake leans over "Those are truffles." she corrects her.

"Like the sprout?" Ruby asks, still confused.

Yang leans over now "Those are Brussels."

"Besides," Doctor Oobleck continues on. "given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw fit to assign me to this particular... assignment!"

"What does history have to do with this?" Weiss asks, which was another mistake of hers, which she quickly realizes as Dr. Oobleck sharply turns on her.

"Why, what a preposterous question, you silly girl! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! Probably the kidneys, if I were to wager."

"And that means..?" Weiss asked for clarification.

"The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves, _but_ it is also the location to one of the kingdom's greatest failures!" He continued.

"Moutain Glenn." Ruby answered.

"That's right!" Yang exclaimed, remembering what she was taught. "It was an expansion of Vale... but in the end it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."

"Correct! And now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder." Dr. Oobleck said.

"And a likely place for a hideout." Blake adds.

Dr. Oobleck adjusts his glasses and smiles. "Precisely."

The airship then slows down and descends, hovering above the ground in a small clearing of abandoned buildings. Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Steven jump out with their weapons drawn, while Dr. Oobleck jumps out, holding his large coffee thermos. The ship then flies away, leaving them there.

"Ladies!... and gentleman!" Oobleck calls their attention. "You still may be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as Huntsmen has begun! From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?" he asks. Everyone nods, and Oobleck suddenly notices Ruby's backpack that she's carrying. " **Ruby!** I thought I told you to leave all of your bags back at school."

"But, uh, you hadn't told us to listen to you yet. So I didn't." She replied, thinking on the spot.

"She's not wrong..." He says to himself. "Very well, Ruby; leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return."

"But I, well uh-" Ruby objected, knowing what that would mean for the backpack's contents.

"Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring it with..." Dr. Oobleck stops as the zipper to the main pouch of the backpack opens up on its own, and Zwei's head pops out of the hole with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Everyone stares at Ruby and Zwei, who is now peaking around her shoulder at everyone.

Ruby whispers to Zwei out of the side of her mouth "Get back in the bag."

Zwei barks.

"We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought... a dog?" Dr. Oobleck asks, not appearing to be amused a single bit.

"I, uh..." Ruby attempts to explain herself.

"Genius!" Oobleck exclaims. Ruby becomes very confused, and in her state, is unprepared when he zips over to her and snatches the dog from her, before twirling around with it. "Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours!"

Zwei barks happily.

Ruby, now returning from her confused state from the unexpected reaction, proceeds to gloat a bit. "I'm a genius!"

Weiss and Yang facepalm.

Steven playfully punches her in the shoulder.

"Doctor." Steven says, snapping Oobleck out of his state. "What are our orders?"

"Ah, yes, straight to the chase; I like it!" He says, straight up dropping Zwei, and turning back towards his students, putting his hands behind him to appear more professional. "As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hot spot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being... Grimm."

Everyone was confused yet again, as Dr. Oobleck's redundant statement was unclear.

"Um… what?" Ruby asked.

"Grimm." He restates. "A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment." He points behind them, and they all turn around, pointing their weapons at the lone Beowulf wandering in the streets.

"Stop!" Dr. Oobleck commands them.

"Huh?" Blake asks, voicing everyone's unending confusion. They all lower their weapons for the moment.

"There are a number of reasons why Grimm will congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which will be their attraction to negativity: sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent." Oobleck explains.

"So... What now?" Ruby asks.

"We wait. We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey." Oobleck finishes explaining.

"How long do we wait?" Blake asks, slightly irritated.

"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Why, lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months - _aaaaaand_ there's the whole pack."

"What!" Weiss exclaims as they all turn back around to see at least five other Beowolves following the first. The Beowolves then look in their direction and notice them.

"And now they've seen us." Dr. Oobleck states the obvious.

"What?!" Weiss says, even louder than the last time.

" **AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US**!" he shouts in Weiss' ear.

"I take it tracking them is out of the question?" Ruby asks.

"An accurate assumption, yes." Oobleck concludes.

"What's the plan, then?" Yang asks. Everyone turns to their teacher for instructions as the black creatures close in.

"Show me what you're capable of." He says.

"Alright!" Ruby says, ready for action. "Steve! Get up in the air and see how many more of them there are! Everyone else; hold this position and attack any Grimm close enough!"

"Roger!" Steven says, using his semblance to turn into an eagle and fly above the buildings.

Ruby plants her scythe in the ground in front of her as the rest of team RWBY lines up with their weapons drawn, as they all begin opening fire on their enemy. Streaks of ice blue, fire red, rose red, and brilliant purple fly through the air, slamming into the unlucky Grimm.

Meanwhile, Steven flew overhead, scouting the nearby blocks for any additional Grimm that may be a part of the pack, or flocking to their location. In the immediate area, there were only the initial few that they were able to see with their own eyes, but looking out further many more could be seen, quickly heading towards the sound of conflict by the dozens, if not, a little over a hundred, from all around them. Not only Beowolves were coming, some Ursai were around too, and even a couple deathstalkers, although they had a hard time navigating the narrow streets and even narrower alleyways between them. He had seen enough. It was time to get down there and warn them. He turned around, and began descending, when he saw an Ursa begin to charge at Ruby from her side, where she was vulnerable and open, and she didn't seem to notice it sprinting at her with its teeth and claws ready. Steven quickly went into a dive, screeching as he went down. This got Ruby's attention, and she looked up to see Steven appearing to be diving straight for her. He then turned back into his normal self, turning his assault rifle into its broadsword variant, and holding it above his head with the blade pointed down, as if he was about to stab something. This scared Ruby, and the expression on his face showed that he was furious.

"DUCK!" Steven called out, which she quickly did, dodging a swipe by the Ursa she was unaware of as Steven flew directly over her, and sunk his blade straight into the Ursa's skull, which now lay sprawled out on the ground directly next to Ruby. Steven took his sword out of the Grimm's skull, and looked back to Ruby, relieved that he made it in time.

Ruby's expression was a mixture of shock and gratitude, but Steven quickly snapped her out of it. "You can thank me later." He said, getting up and turning his sword back into an assault rifle. "Right now, we've got possibly over a hundred Grimm coming at us from all directions." He informed them all, taking up a position from the rear.

"What?!" Ruby asked, afraid. The other three looked equally as distraught as they waited for more Grimm to appear, hearing the shrieks, screams, growls and roars in the distance.

Steven quickly surveyed his surroundings, and remembered the information he gathered. "Alright, listen! There are too many to try and flee, so we have to stay and fight until we can punch a hole through them. There are only four directions they can come from; the four streets that lead here. They would have to come through the buildings if they want to come a fifth way, but they will likely come the path of least resistance. The four of you should go back-to-back, with Zwei and Dr. Oobleck in the center, one person facing each street. As they get closer, back up and close the square. I'll be up in that building giving you guys support from above." He indicated, pointing to the tallest building, which was about seven stories tall.

Everyone immediately went into action, spreading out to protect the center. Steven flew up to the tall building he pointed out, and took a position that allowed him a 360 degree look around the building, but most importantly, the block that team RWBY was in, with Dr. Oobleck observing from the center, only intervening if he must. Steven turned his assault rifle into its brand new sniper variant. This is exactly the type of situation he built it for, after all. He then immediately set himself up in a position that allowed him a good view of the square they were in, and three of the streets. The street he couldn't see was the one Ruby was defending.

From across the square, which was to the East, on the street Yang was defending, Steven could see several Beowolves coming down the street; nothing the blonde brawler couldn't handle. To the North, Blake had several Beowolves as well. Less than Yang, but she also has an Ursa. To the South, Weiss had a pack of Beowolves, three Ursai, and Deathstalker on the way. She was the one who definitely needed help the most.

The Deathstalker was having a hard time moving through the streets due to its large size, so the Ursai were his top priority, as Weiss could engage the Beowolves from range. Steven immediately trained his rifle on the Ursa closest to Weiss, aiming for the head. He steadied his breathing, and pulled the trigger. The loud bang resonated through the air, and if it weren't for the loud roars, growls and other noises, it would've echoed for miles around the abandoned city. About a half of a second after pulling the trigger, the bullet travels its distance, but misses the Ursa, landing in a building behind it, and allowing it to get closer to Weiss as she is preoccupied with Beowolves. Steven silently cursed himself, and adjusted his aim accordingly. He pulled the trigger, and after the half-second passed, witnessed the spray of blood on the nearby building as the .50 Cal bullet put a hole into the monsters head. The Ursa fell to the ground and began to evaporate. Steven then moved onto another Ursa, and aimed before pulling the trigger again. The shot was right on the money, and more Grimm brains, if they had any, were painted on one of the walls as the body it left fell limp. Weiss had since taken care of the Beowolves she was occupied with, and was attacking the last Ursa. That left just the Deathstalker. Steven began to do as much work on it as he could, that way, when Weiss was finished with the Ursa, they could focus on it together. Steven took a shot at the giant scorpion's pincers, but the bullet just ricocheted off of the curved armor. He readjusted his aim to the flatter armor on the Deathstalker's head, and fired a round. The shot went straight into the armor, but didn't penetrate, instead leaving an indent with several cracks stemming from it. Steven tried to take another shot and hit it in the same spot, but that was easier said than done, instead hitting a different area, but with the same result. Weiss was now finished with the Ursa, and was focusing on the Deathstalker. She noticed the spots Steven hit it in, and decided to exploit those weakpoints. Weiss summoned her glyphs, and positioned them in between her and the Deathstalker. She then spun the cylinder in Myrtenaster to use explosive dust, and fired away from her rapier. The projectiles passed through the glyph, causing them to enlarge in size. The projectiles then hit the spots where Steven had shot it earlier, detonating on the small craters, and leaving a large cloud of smoke. The two watched the cloud for any signs that the creature was still alive, but when the smoke cleared, the creature had no head left, so it was safe to say their plan worked.

Now that Weiss' street was temporarily secured, Steven readjusted his aim to look at the other two he could see. Yang was still doing just fine on her own, attacking Beowulf after Beowulf. Blake, on the other hand, had since had to move back due to the large amount of Beowolves coming down the street. Blake was unaware of the Beowulf that has sneaked past her peripheral vision, and was about to pounce on her. Steven quickly took aim, and pulled the trigger. As the Beowulf lunged at Blake, it was caught in mid-air as the sniper round went right through its skull. Only now had Blake noticed the Beowulf, but she only let that strengthen her will, as to not let herself be so vulnerable again. She began to attack the nearest Beowulf, and Steven began to thin out the large pack, getting ones that threatened Blake, and she couldn't immediately attack herself. He fired a shot at the Beowulf to her side, taking it down like the rest before it. He then aimed for one further away from her to lessen the incoming horde, and fired again. He hit his mark once more, and scored another kill. He then fired one more round into another unlucky Beowulf, before he heard the click of the magazine, signaling it was empty, and time to reload.

Steven wasted no time, and unloaded the empty magazine, and replaced it with a fresh one. He then pulled back the long bolt to chamber another round, and readjusted his aim to look back at Blake. She still had a few Beowolves coming at her, but they were not all at once, and she could easily handle them. Taking a look at how Yang was holding up, she seemed to have everything under control. Steve was about to look in Weiss' direction, but then at least 12 Beowolves came around the corner, sprinting as fast as they could at Yang. Steven went into action, and fired at the incoming Grimm. He took out four of them before something else caught his attention; Ruby. Ruby was supposed to be on the opposite end of the square to Yang, closest to Steven, but she was right there, back towards her sister. Then, Weiss ran in to assist Ruby. That meant one thing; she was forced back. Steven immediately looked over the edge of the building, and when he looked at the street below, he was greeted by the sight of what has to be 50 Beowolves and 7 Ursai. Steven immediately pointed his weapon straight down at the street, and began firing at the Grimm from above as they ran at his teammates. He fired a couple shots, before looking over to Weiss' unprotected side, and firing a pop shot at an approaching Beowulf, scoring a kill. He then redirected his attention to the street below, but was distracted yet again by Blake retreating herself. He fired a shot at a Beowulf on her flank, wounding it and sending it back, but not killing it. Yang then came out of nowhere and finished it off, before helping her partner defend her street. Steven looked over to Yang and Weiss' streets, and luckily, they were both clear, but they couldn't leave with the onslaught of Grimm currently approaching them. Steven redirected his aim again at the street directly below, and pulled the trigger. He was surprised to hear a click instead of a bang, and the gun was not empty. He looked at the side of the receiver, and saw it was jammed. The last casing didn't eject properly, and was now half in/half out of the weapon. Steven immediately began to try to get the shell out of the receiver, which tool effort, as the bolt seemed to seize up somewhat for whatever reason, something he would have to tweak later. He finally wrestled the casing free, and chambered the next round. He got up again, and before he could aim at one of the Grimm, Ruby shouted up to him.

"Steve! They're climbing up the side of the building!" She shouted to him. He looked over the edge, and sure enough, several Beowolves were indeed climbing up the side of the building to come get him.

Steven quickly pointed his rifle over the edge, and fired into the skull of the nearest one, causing it to go limp and fall off the building as its body evaporated. He then switched to the next side of the building, taking care of the closest one on that side, before repeating the process, and going back to the first side. He took a third shot, sending another Grimm to the bottom below, but he wasn't killing them quick enough; they were making more progress than he was making. Steven went over the second side again to take a fourth shot, but was stopped when he heard a loud roar from behind him. He quickly looked over his shoulder to the sight of an Alpha Beowulf charging at him from behind. The Alpha had come from behind him, sneaking up on him, and was now coming in for the kill. Steven quickly brought his rifle around, and unloaded the magazine, throwing it to the ground, nor even bothering to pick it up to save time. He then flicked the switch to return it to its assault rifle variant, grabbing one of those magazines in the process. As the transformation finished, he shoved the magazine into the weapon, quickly pressed the bolt catch, and fired on the Alpha Beowulf. The Grimm kept charging him, taking hits in some places, shrugging off others with its extra bony plates that came with its age. Before he knew it, the Alpha was right on top of him. He quickly switched his rifle into its sword variant, and was about to strike the Beowulf, but the Grimm was quicker, swatting the sword out of his hand with its right arm, and off the edge of the building. Steven quickly took out his sidearm, and fired a round into the chest of the Beowulf, only to hit a piece of its armor. The Beowulf then swatted the Desert Eagle out of Steven's hands with its right arm, that going off of the edge of the building as well. Steven was now defenseless, and only had his armor to protect him. He knew that he couldn't win this fight without weapons, and knew he had to flee, and join with the others. He turned around, and began to ran towards the edge with the little room he still had left, planning to jump off and turn into an Eagle once more to safely fly down, but as he neared the edge, he was greeted by two Beowolves climbing over the railing on the side, trapping him on the roof. Steven quickly looked around for anything he could use as a weapon. Time was running out quickly, and the creatures would soon be upon him once more. He spotted a piece of rebar with some concrete still attached to the end not far from where he stood. It's all he was going to get up here, so he dove for it, grabbing it, and quickly getting up to face his attackers, who now surrounded him. One of the normal Beowolves went for him first, and Steven dodged its swipe, counter attacking by swinging the piece of rebar upwards like a golf club, straight into the bottom of the Grimm's skull, shattering the creature's jaw. He then brought it down, and took out one of its legs, forcing it to collapse to the ground under its own weight, where Steven finished it by bringing the concrete end down on the back of the creature's neck, killing it instantly. As its body began to evaporate, the second normal Beowulf came at him, but with the alpha in tow. Steven deflected the attack of the normal Beowulf with the rebar, knocking its arm away, while he dodged to his side to evade the alpha, getting behind it. He then brought up the rebar before the Grimm could react, and swung it over his shoulder like a sledgehammer, and brought it right down on the creature's bony spine. The concrete on the rebar shattered, leaving Steven with a stick of metal, and no damage being done to the Alpha. It seemed his luck had run out. He was virtually defenseless again, as a simple steel bar wouldn't hold much back on its own. He was surrounded once more again, another two Beowolves having scaled the building and made it up onto the roof, flanking his rear.

But he wouldn't go down without a fight.

The Beowolves circled him, intimidating him, like a real wolf pack would around its prey.

"COME ON!" Steven taunted them. "YOU WANT DINNER?! COME AND GET IT!"

The Alpha took him up on his challenge, breaking the circle, and swiping at Steven's torso. He quickly dodged, getting behind the Grimm, and swiped the rebar under the creature, connecting with the back of its knee, throwing it onto its back. The Grimm tried to roll onto its stomach and bite at his ankle, but Steven swung the rebar into the side of the Alpha's head, disorienting it enough to make it reconsider. Temporarily stunned, Steven could redirect his focus on the other Beowolves for the moment. There were three in total, with more likely on the way, and he was on his own until the others could free themselves to help him, but he likely didn't have that much time. The three Beowolves charged him at the same time. The center one was the closest, and as it neared him, and swiped at his head, Steven ducked out of its way, and went up under the beast, and threw it over its shoulder as it continued to run at him, using its momentum to throw it over the edge with his shoulder. That left two more. The other two arrived directly after his last attack, leaving no room for recovery. Steven swiped at the nearest one's side, striking it, but the other one latched onto his right arm. He tried to throw it off of him, but the first one recovered and latched onto his left arm, and forced him to drop the rebar. He thrashed and kicked, trying to free himself desperately. The Alpha Beowulf had since gotten up, and it quickly closed in to take its revenge on Steven. The two normal Beowolves restrained him as the Alpha got right in his face. It roared in his face, showing him the deadly jaws he had obtained over its lifespan. Steven kicked the beast in the chest, causing it to stumble back, but angering it further. The Alpha retaliated, performing an uppercut on him with its claws, launching him into the air from the immense force, and over the edge of the building.

Steven plummeted to the ground with no control over his decent. He couldn't turn over, he couldn't brace himself.

This was it.

He had just accomplished so much, lived through so much, only to be defeated by the very things he was supposed to be taught how to fight.

Above on the ledge, the Alpha stood, roaring triumphantly into the air.

The struggle above them had not gone unnoticed the entire time by team RWBY and Doctor Oobleck below either. And presently, they were all watching, terrified, Ruby most of all.

Steven slammed into the ground, throwing tons of debris into the air like an explosion, his aura taking up as much of the impact as it could, and distributing it away from his body, but just how much his aura deflected was uncertain.

At the moment of his landing, the Grimm advancing on RWBY halted their advance and looked over at the impact crater where the debris was still settling. Many of them howled, while the others changed targets, and began to sprint towards the crater, which the others soon followed. They all then jumped in and began attacking what was left of Steven.

Everyone looked on with a mixture of horror and massive confusion. This behavior was strange for Grimm, but more importantly, Steven was likely dead, or dying at least.

Ruby was broken.

But she chose to turn that grief into anger, and vengeance for the time being. Before Yang could stop her younger sister, Ruby was charging at the Grimm with her scythe at the ready, carving up any enemy that was unlucky enough to be the subject of her rage. She didn't relent, even when an Alpha Beowulf tried to stop her, she kept on going, slicing it up in a blind rage.

Yang, Blake and Weiss soon joined in too, attacking the Grimm around Steven in a desperate attempt to save him.

Not long after they began, a red pulse emanated from the crater Steven resided in, stumbling the Grimm and the huntresses that were advancing on it with the small shockwave that came with it. A second red pulse emanated, this one stronger than the last, knocking those too close off of their feet. Then, an explosion emanated from the crater, blowing away the Grimm that were piled on top of Steven, throwing them away like ragdolls. And out from that explosion, emerged a giant creature, standing roughly 20ft. The creature was a large saurian/humanoid monster with a thick hide, covered in spikes and barbs on its back. It is bipedal and stands on its hind legs, and its head is rounded and well armored. It possesses two crimson eyes that are set far into the skull for protection. The skull is connected to the rest of the body at the back of the neck instead of at the base of the skull, allowing it full range of visibility, while the mouth of the creature possesses a long thin tongue and a large pair of mandibles on the lower jaw that are visible when the creature roars. The eyes and mouth of a creature glow a bright red color as if there is a fire burning deep within its body, starting at the neck and travelling all the way down to the chest area. The creature has a muscular frame and a tail tipped with a cluster of spikes. The creature's feet possess four toes: two in the center, a smaller toe on the outside and one additional toe that juts backwards, making a distinctive footprint.

Steven gave a mighty roar into the air, before he directed his anger to the Grimm in front of him, sending his fists into the Grimm below, pulverizing the ones still disoriented, screaming in rage with each punch. Soon, the Grimm reoriented themselves, and began to attack the Goliath. Some tried to jump onto him, only to be kicked violently, swatted out of the air, or stomped into the ground beneath his feet. Steven's throat began to glow red, traveling up from the bottom of his neck to his mouth, until fire came out like a breath in a constant stream, incinerating any Grimm immediately surrounding him. He then turned around to a loud shriek emanating from behind him, revealing the second Deathstalker he spotted earlier. He didn't expect it to be so close to him, as it grabbed his ankle and pulled his leg out from under him, causing him to fall. The giant scorpion then drew back its tail, before lashing it forward to sting Steven. He quickly rolled out of the way, causing the Deathstalker to miss and instead embed its barb in the ground. Steven then got up, and as the scorpion was trying to free itself, Steven took the tail in his hands, and bit down into the center, severing the tail in half with his razor sharp teeth and mandibles. He then yanked the tail out of the ground, before throwing the barb end of the tail into the top of the still-reeling scorpion's head, killing it instantly.

Steven was pissed. He wanted the Grimm to leave them all alone; he wanted them to just go away!

When roared once more into the air that is exactly what happened. The remaining Grimm's eyes changed color, from red to yellow, and they began to retreat hastily.

Steven roared again, watching the retreating creatures run away, but he didn't pursue them.

Only when they had left the square, did he stop, and change back into his human form, collapsing onto his knees, and falling forward, barely conscious. Ruby immediately used her semblance to go over to Steven, while the others ran as fast as they could.

"Steve!" Ruby shouted, tears falling from her eyes already, sliding up next to him. She took notice to the large gash left by claws in his chest armor, and how he strangely didn't seem injured in any major way, just exhausted.

Steven opened his eyes, and coughed out her name. "Ruby…" he coughed again, bringing his fist in front of his mouth to cough into.

"Steve!" Ruby exclaimed, concerned. Tears fell from her eyes, the feelings from when he fell catching up to her. Ruby sat him up and hugged him tightly, tears streaming freely down her face. Slowly and carefully, Steven returned the embrace, letting her sobs flow freely. "I thought you were dead." She sobbed.

"I did too" he said, "but I'm still here. I'm okay." He told her, before kissing her on the lips, and calming her down. "I don't know how, but I'm still here. I'm okay, you're okay, and everything is fine." He assured her, wiping away her tears with his thumbs as he held her face gently in his hands. "I promise." Ruby wrapped her arms around Steven, curling up into his chest, before crying softly.

"I thought I lost you…" She quietly sobbed.

The others soon caught up to them, and Blake was the first to voice her concerns.

"Are you okay?!" Blake asked, very concerned like the rest of them.

Steven nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit banged up."

"H…h _-how_ are you not hurt badly?" Weiss, asked, dumbfounded.

"I don't know. I really don't." He answered.

Yang was at a loss for words. She looked like she was trying to say something, but nothing was coming out.

Dr. Oobleck spoke up next. "I know we all just went through a lot, but the threat isn't quite gone yet. We need to get somewhere safe, and continue the mission if possible. Mr. Paxton, can you walk?"

"Let's find out." Steven said, before looking to Ruby. "Ruby, could you help me get up?" He asked her. She sat up, and sniffled, wiping away her tears, before nodding and getting up. She extended her hands out to his, which he took. They both pulled, and with Yang's assistance from behind, easing Steven up, he was able to get onto his feet. "My right leg is a little banged up, but I can move. Just not quickly." He told them.

"Alright. Ms. Rose, help Mr. Paxton move around. We'll stay ahead of you to scout ahead for a place to camp out for the night." Dr. Oobleck declared. "We've had a long day, and we should rest." Everyone silently agreed. "Yang, you'll scout ahead with me first. Blake, Weiss, you stay with Ruby and Steven."

Yang and Dr. Oobleck then began to walk down the street opposite from where the Grimm retreated.

"Where are your weapons?" Blake asked soon after.

"They got thrown off the building by an Alpha Beowulf. They're somewhere over there." Steven told them, pointing in front of the building nowhere in particular. Steven took a step forward, wanting to begin searching for them, but his leg gave out from his weight, and he fell forward, where Ruby held him from falling.

"Be careful!" She scolded him. "You're injured! You need to take it easy for a bit!"

"Ruby, I'm fine, really-"

"No you're not!" She shouted, her voice shaking a bit. She gave him a death glare, showing she was serious. If he wouldn't let her take care of him, then she'd give him no choice in the matter, that's what her glare told him.

Steven sighed, as Ruby easily helped him back on his feet. She then wrapped one arm behind him to support his back, while she draped his right arm behind her neck to support him. She then locked fingers with his arm that was draped around her.

* * *

Ahead of them, Yang and Oobleck were scouting, now joined by Weiss and Blake now that Steven had his weapons again, and that he and Ruby were able to move well enough on their own, although they kept a concerned eye on them at all times.

"Tell me, Yang: Why did you choose this line of work?" Dr. Oobleck asked her, trying to take everyone's minds off of the events that just unfolded.

"Huh?" Yang asked, taken by surprise. "Well, to fight monsters and save-"

Oobleck cut her off. "No, that is what you _do_. I want to know why you do it. The honest reason as to why you want to be a Huntress."

Yang considers it a moment before answering. "The honest reason? I'm a thrill-seeker. I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know?"

"I see." Oobleck responds, before redirecting his attention to Weiss. "And you, Miss Schnee? A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn't need the extra work. So... why choose this over a cushy job in Atlas?"

Weiss didn't take long to answer him, as if she had rehearsed her response before. "It's exactly as you said: I'm a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty."

Dr. Oobleck nods. "Interesting. And what about you, Blake? You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose."

"There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption... _Someone_ has to stop it." She responded.

"Very well. How?"

Blake was taken aback by this. She hadn't really put too much thought into it before. She just knew what she _had_ to do, she hadn't figured out how to do it just yet. "I, _Uh_ …" She stammers, but cannot answer.

Oobleck 'Hmms' to himself, ending his questioning.

They eventually make their way several blocks down the city streets, encountering no resistance at all. The streets were barren, making it appear like a ghost town like it really was. Not long after his fall, Steven was able to walk again on his own power, his aura able to heal his leg enough to let him walk by himself, just at a slower pace. That was something of large interest to all of them; how Steven sustained such little damage despite the fall. The yellow eyes were also a topic of interest, but they don't know whether to be concerned by it or not. Nonetheless, they were able to catch up with the others quickly.

They had winded around blocks, gone through some, and around others, until they knew for certain they were a safe distance from where they at least knew the Grimm were.

They had stopped to rest for a while near an abandoned bookstore; by the way the interior looked, or, from what was left of it anyways. About ten minutes into their little rest, Dr. Oobleck came back from a light scouting of the immediate area.

"Are we ready to keep going?" Ruby asked.

"Nope! I believe that will have to do for today. It's going to be dark soon." Dr. Oobleck said. He then throws a bag towards Yang, which she catches. "You three, set up camp in that building. Oh, and please do make sure there are no more of those... creatures. Your leader, Mr. Paxton, and I are going to secure the perimeter. Come, you two." He turns around and begins walking down the street, where the two students follow.

They walk down a ways and round a corner to a street where the end was open due to a landslide. It gave a great open view of the forest surrounding Mountain Glenn.

On the edge of the forest, giant elephant-like Grimm moved parallel to the tree line.

"Whaaaa…" Ruby said in awe of the giant creatures lurking together on the edge of the forest. "What _is_ that? It looks awesome!"

"That, my dear girl, is a Grimm."

After watching the Grimm in awe for a few more moments, Ruby took out her sniper rifle, and aimed it at the beasts. "Let's kill it."

"I'm afraid your sniper rifle will do nothing more than agitate a Grimm of that size." Dr. Oobleck warned her.

"But... What if it attacks us?" She asks.

"Fret not, Ruby; those Goliaths are not concerned with us. Ruby, not every Grimm is mindless, or rather not every Grimm is _still_ mindless. You see, the Grimm you see before you are so powerful, so superior to the Grimm you fought, that they've undoubtedly lived hundreds of years, and in that time between killing humans and attacking our borders, they have done one important thing: They've _learned_. They've learned that when they attack our borders, they're likely to die, and what we lack in strength, we make up for in will, and that killing one human will only bring more."

"So that's why the Alpha Beowulf came up from behind me instead of with all the others." Steven said, understanding what happened earlier a little more.

"Precisely."

"Why are these Grimm so close to the city? What are they doing?"

"Waiting." Dr. Oobleck replied vaguely.

A few moments of silence went by before Ruby spoke up again.

"Doctor Oobleck?" She asked.

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering..."

"Wondering why I've been interrogating your teammates all day?"

"A-Actually, I was wondering... Why did you want to become a Huntsman?" She asked, taking him slightly by surprise, but nonetheless he was eager to answer.

"Look around and tell me what you see." Ruby does just that, and Steven plays along with it.

"Lots of old buildings, uh, empty streets..."

"I see lives that could have been saved." Dr. Oobleck begins. "As a Huntsman, it is my job to protect the people, and although I am capable of doing it with traditional weaponry, I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind. As a teacher, I'm able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it in the hands of every student that passes through my classroom. I look at this wasteland, and I see lives that could have been saved, but I also see an opportunity; an opportunity to study these ruins and _learn_ from this tragedy, and therefore become stronger. I am a Huntsman, Ruby, because there is nothing else in this world I would rather be."

* * *

Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Zwei were back at the makeshift camp site they were staying at for the night. It was erected in a mostly-intact office building that gave a good vantage point over the nearby area.

Now that they were able to sit back and rest, they began to catch up and speak how they thought about their mission so far.

"Well today was something." Blake said.

" _That_ is an understatement." Weiss said.

"Steven almost dying and tons of Grimm attacking us out of nowhere certainly wasn't in the itinerary, but we got through it!" Yang said, perking her teammates up. "But while we're on that, I can't believe we didn't find anything..."

"We've always been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. I guess we can't always have luck on our side." Blake reasoned.

"That's not what I meant." Weiss said, clearly off-topic.

"huh?" Blake asked in confusion.

"Earlier, about... upholding the legacy. There's more to it than that." She explained.

"Yeah... No, me too. I mean... I don't know." Yang said, understanding that Weiss was referring to when Oobleck questioned them.

"I don't know, either. I know what I _want_ to do, but I figured I'd always take things one step at a time." Blake said.

"Well, it doesn't matter. _We_ know why we're here. Right?" Yang concluded, but everyone stood in silence around the small campfire they had.

Out of nowhere, Dr. Oobleck zips into the room. "Ah, wonderful; a textbook campfire!"

Ruby and Steven then walk in, not far behind.

"Fire!" Ruby exclaims, sitting down next to it with Zwei. "So... warm..."

"Very good!" Oobleck commends them. "Eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?"

Ruby lifts her hand up. "Yo."

Oobleck then leaves without saying another word, zipping off to somewhere else.

"Hey, did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a Huntress? I mean... what did you tell him?" Yang asked her sister.

"Hmm... No, he didn't. Weird." Ruby dismissed it. "Oh, well; good night, guys!" She got up from her spot next to the fire, and walked over to the corner of the room, where a small ramp of rubble led to a hole in the walls that allowed a wide view of the area nearby on that side.

Steven took a seat by the campfire and cooked up a couple cans of soup over the fire, before going over to the corner as well and giving one to Ruby, along with a spoon.

"Mind if I join you on watch?" he asked.

"Not at all!" She said, scooting over to the side a bit to allow him some room to sit. He then handed her her can of soup. "Thanks!" She said, kissing him on the cheek before taking the spoon he offered and digging in. Steven followed suit, and the two watched together out into the darkening destroyed cityscape as they ate peacefully.

After they finished, they set aside their cans, and licked their spoons clean so they could be reused during their next meal, before putting them away.

There were a few minutes of silence between the two, neither knowing how to start or even where to begin after the day they just had. But eventually Steven was able to put something together.

"So… today was something."

"Yup." She agreed. "The start of our first mission, getting nearly overrun by Grimm, you almost dying… It's certainly been an interesting day."

"But, I'm okay now. We made it here, we're all safe now, and we can continue on with the mission in the morning." Steven said optimistically.

"True."

" _Aaannd_ … we did it together." He added. "You, Yang, Weiss, Blake, and I; we all were able to hold off the Grimm together."

"But you almost _died_!" She restated, the grief that the even caused her began to show as it returned. A tear fell down her face as she looked at him with extremely concerned eyes.

Steven immediately took her into his arms, and she curled up into him, crying softly into his shoulder. "I know, but I'm still here." He said in his efforts to calm her down. "I didn't die, and I'm still here with you here and now. There's no need to cry."

Ruby looked up at him with tear stained eyes. " _But you almost died!_ "

Steven captured her in a kiss, calming her down enough to let him speak again. " _But I didn't_. And I'll make sure I'm much more careful in the future, ok?" He said, wiping the tears off of her face.

Ruby gave a small nod. "Ok." She mumbled, having calmed down quite a lot. She lay there on his shoulder for a while in silence, cuddling with him as they kept watch outside. She eventually spoke back up, though. "You know, we wouldn't have been able to fight off those Grimm if you didn't turn into that giant creature." She said with a smirk, showing that she has returned to her usual self.

The two giggled softly, as to not awake their teammates.

"Speaking of that, what do you think happened to the Grimm?" Steven asked her, wanting to know what she thought of it.

"I don't know. Their eyes turned yellow and they ran away. No one has ever seen that kind of behavior before." She said.

"Yeah. It's just so… _strange_."

"Also, _when_ were you planning to tell me you built a sniper rifle?!" Ruby asked, slightly upset with him.

"I was going to tell you when you got back, but I was taken with you, and I was too excited on the way here." He admitted.

"You copied me." She accused him, crossing her arms and turning away from him.

"No, I didn't. I use .50 Caliber rounds, you use .338's. Yours has a bolt action, mine is semi-automatic. Also yours doesn't turn into an assault rifle."

"But I had _mine_ first." She nagged childishly.

"Well I was _born_ first." He mocked her in a childish way. The two giggled.

The two lovers talked about miscellaneous things for a little while longer, but soon sleep overtook Ruby, and Steven soon after, thus ending their watch for the time being.

* * *

Elsewhere in Vale, General Ironwood stood overlooking the landing docks of Beacon Academy, gazing into the city where his airships were stationed over in the middle of the night.

"Trouble sleeping?" Professor Goodwitch asked, coming up from behind him.

Ironwood looked over his shoulder, grabbing the other with the opposite hand. "Arm was acting up."

"Of course, so logically, you got out of bed, dressed yourself completely and decided to gaze menacingly out into the distance." Goodwitch then approaches him, standing at his side. She then gives him a concerned look.

"I've trusted him for years. We both have. I just... I can't help but feel like he's keeping us in the dark."

"Don't be ridiculous! You know very well that we are not the ones in the dark."

Ironwood laughs humorously. "That makes it _worse_! I refuse to believe that a man that I've trusted for so long would act so... passively."

Glynda puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You're a good person, James. You've always done what you think is best for the people, even against strong protest. It's admirable. But it's high time you stopped talking about trust and started showing it." She drops her hand as she too looks out blankly into the distance. "Ozpin has experience that the rest of us lack. And I think that's something worth remembering."

* * *

Back in Mountain Glenn, the three remaining members of team RWBY were lying down on their sleeping mats around the fire, their weapons nearby. Steven and Ruby had since woken up from their accidental nap, and were now actively on watch, but were not paying attention to the others.

Yang is still awake though, unable to sleep from all the things on her mind, not to mention the mat was pretty uncomfortable.

"Blake, are you awake?" Yang asked softly, hoping to get someone to talk to.

"Yeah." She responded.

"Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like, what was he trying to say?"

"Maybe he was just curious." Blake thought.

"You think?"

"…No…" Blake said, confirming she really didn't know what to think.

"Weiss, are you awake?" Yang asked.

"Of course I'm awake! You two are talking." She snapped a little too harshly. "And I think he... When I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it. But, it's not what you think. I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a... moral gray area." She said, contributing to the conversation.

"That's putting it lightly." Blake sassed.

"Which is why I feel the need to make things right." Weiss declared. "If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it."

Blake explained her justification next. "All my life, I fought for what I thought was right. I had a partner named Adam. More of a mentor, actually. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be not perfect for everyone. I joined the Academy because I knew that Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy, what will I - how can I undo so many years of hate?"

"I'm sure you'd figure it out. You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake." Yang said to her partner.

"But I am! I do it all the time! When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran! When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my Semblance! I was born with the ability to leap behind a shadow of myself; an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away!"

"At least you two have something that drives you." Yang sadly admits. "I've just kinda of always, gone with the flow, y'know? And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. But how long can I really do that for? I wanna be a Huntress, not really because I want to be a hero, but because I want the adventure. I want a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring. And that'll be a good thing. Being a Huntress just happens to line up with that. I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said, ever since she was a kid, she'd dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today."

"Well, she's still just a kid." Weiss defended, and provided reason to her behaviors and beliefs.

"She's only two years younger. We're all kids." Blake said.

"Well, not anymore. I mean, look where we are! In the middle of a warzone and armed to the teeth!" Yang said, bringing them to reality.

"It's the life we chose." Said Blake.

"It's a job. We all had this romanticized vision of being a Huntress in our heads! But at the end of the day, it's a job to protect the people! And whatever we want, will have to come second." Weiss concluded, effectively ending their conversation.

The three lay in silence for a little while.

"What do you think drives Steven?" Yang asked.

"I dunno, maybe its just because he doesn't have any other option, really." Blake said.

"Yeah. Maybe."

"I don't know, I feel like there's something more to it than that." Weiss said.

"Like what?" Yang asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think there's a purpose behind becoming a huntsman, like he's fighting for something other than to protect his friends or just because he wants to fight to protect the people for a living. I don't know what it is, but I think there's something behind everything else that he fights for first and foremost; something that might run deeper than Ruby even." Weiss explained.

"Maybe…" Yang said. "Maybe."

* * *

Later that night, Yang took over watch for Steven and Ruby, and the two took their rests. Ruby took Yang's sleeping mat, and Steven propped himself against a wall, as they didn't have time to pack an extra one. Zwei had joined Ruby, and was curled up next to her.

Zwei suddenly woke up , however, which woke up Ruby in the process.

"Huh? Zwei, it's late. Go back to bed." She groans. Zwei then runs off down the staircase. "Zwei! Zwei!" She shouts quietly, before groaning again, getting up herself, and wanders out of the building to look for her dog, disturbing no one else in the process. She stepped outside, and saw that the sun was currently rising, and there was a good amount of light out, but it was still rather dark. "Zwei! Zwei, where are you? Zwei! Huh?" She spots Zwei peeing next to some debris. "Zwei, this is a wasteland! You literally could have done that anywhere!"

Zwei barks.

"What was that?" Someone from afar said, someone unfamiliar. Ruby immediately grabs Zwei and hides behind some ruins.

"What was what?" Another unknown voice asks.

"I thought I heard a Beowulf or something." The first said again.

"Hmph. Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base. This place gives me the creeps." The second one says.

'Patrol?' Ruby thinks to herself. 'who's patrolling all the way out here?' She decided to follow them from afar, at least see where they go, then tell her team mates when she's done. Peeking around the corner, Ruby is able to identify the two of them as White Fang members; the exact type of people they were looking for here. They're walking away from her down the street, and she hears a door open and close from around the corner where she stood, listening. She then held Zwei around the corner. "Did they go in yet? One bark means yes."

Zwei barked once.

"Oh! This is it! This is it!" She said excitedly. She immediately takes out her scroll to call her teammates, but is sad when she sees that there isn't enough signal to call her nearby teammates. "Aw man! Come on, we gotta get the others!" Ruby begins to run back to the makeshift camp, however the asphalt under them suddenly sinks, creating cracks around them. Ruby struggled to maintain her balance, but soon the road caved in, creating a large sinkhole directly under her. Ruby was able to grab onto a ledge and catch Zwei with one arm, throwing him up and over the edge while she dangled, hanging on for dear life. She attempts to pull herself up, but the ledge she was holding onto breaks off, and she falls into the hole to an uncertain fate.

* * *

 _Once more, our heroes find themselves in the thick of trouble, and in the middle of several dire situations. Ruby has fallen into an unknown pit after spotting the very group they all originally came here to investigate in the first place; The White Fang. What are the White Fang doing here, no one knows._

 _Then, other questions have arisen from recent events, adding to the ever expanding list with very few answers. What happened to the Grimm, and how Steven escaped with such minor injuries is a mystery. Why did the Grimm's eyes turn yellow, and why did they run? How did Steven fall several stories and survive? Only time will tell._

 _With two chapters left in Act II, some questions may be answered, while some may be left unanswered, with even more added instead. Find out what happens next in Chapter 15: Breach_

 **The plot thickens! OOoOOOOooOoOOOOooooHH! XD Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it! I dont know if anyone was able to tell, but the creature Steven became is actually the stage 3 evolution of the Goliath from Evolve, only instead of like 60ft, hes only 20 because 60ft is too tall to be honest. Dont forget to tell me how i did in a review or a PM! The feedback is greatly appreciated! If I dont post between now and January, then happy holidays and Happy new year everyone!**


	17. Chapter 15: Breach

**HOLY CRAP! I DID IT! I FINALLY FINISHED IT! Chapter 15 is done!**

 **Weeks overdue! I know, and I am _terribly_ sorry! It's been over a month since I've updated, and i am very, very sorry about that.**

 **I have a mountain of excuses, but Im going to save you all the trouble.** **I know it isnt much of a consolation, but as an apology, I have decided to upload the new cover art earlier than planned. If I dont post the next chapter before February 4th, I will change the cover art that night. How about that? You'l; finally get to know what Steven looks like... with an addition... *cough* spoilers.**

 **Anyways... I thank you all for sticking around, and I love all of the amazing reviews that came along with the last chapter! Keep it up guys! i sincerely appreciate it!** **Last time I checked, We were just above an amazing 14k views, which honestly has blown me away! I'm delighted to know that my story is so engaging to so many people.**

 **That being said, I think you will all like this chapter. It took me a long time, but I think it came out nicely in the end. Lots of action, lots of fun, thats what took so long i think. Next chapter will be the last chapter of Act II, and it will mostly be exposition, but it will be good and important exposition that will set up a lot for Act III and beyond. A LOT of information will be learned, so stay tuned for that :P**

 **Alright, let's get to the reviews, then I;ll leave you all to read the chapter. As always, all reviews are appreciated, so dont be afraid to leave one!**

 **these reviews will be posted in the order they were posed to avoid confusion, since there were so many guests.**

 **Lil'Manuel.G:** **I can see you're very observant. You're catching onto something that will most definitely come full circle in Act III (volume 3), but I wont tell what it is, I'm dropping too man hints as it is. As for your second part of your review, I agree with you, and I am definitely going to try to alter some events significantly, or at least to a great extent. To begin with, I'm adding tournament events that dont exist in the show, which would be the 'random battles' that Connor mentioned in chapter 12 (I think). The one when he died. It was at the beginning of the chapter he died in, which Im pretty sure was chapter 12. Also, I might just have to make another OC now that you've given me that idea. Lol, we'll have to see. Thank you as always, I'm glad you enjoy my work, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Guest:** **i'M glad you liked it! Here's the next one for you to enjoy!**

 **Guest:** **Thank you! I strive to please!**

 **Guest:** **Well, If I told you straight up, it wouldnt be a surprise, now would it? But there are a bunch of them this chapter. You'll enjoy it.**

 **Guest:** **Yup! Here ya go!**

 **Guest:** **I tried to make it as epic as I could. Here it is, and tell me how i did!**

 **Guest:** **I didn't make him a dragon here, but let me explain why. It has most certainly crossed my mind before, having him turn into a dragon, but heres the thing: I think its too soon for him to turn into something that size. Sure, the Goliath is big. It's his biggest form yet, but its a direct result of learning to use his semblance and have it take up less aura (something I'm implying on everyone. It seems like a skill every huntsman in training would learn at the academies). Additionally, I have a select few pre-determined forms that I have decided he will not become until certain points of the story. That being said, a European dragon, or any dragon for that matter, _might_ be one of them... but I wont confirm nor deny that.**

 **Guest:** **I guess you'll have to read to find out!**

 **That's all for the reviews! dont feel afraid to leave one for me telling me how i did, or just as a reaction to the chapter as many of you do. I enjoy them either way. It means I'm doing everything right.**

 **The next chapter will be quicker, since its all being made up by me, and I've already thought it out for a long time. I've actually had this chapter in my head since I published chapter 11, and I've been improving it ever since, so Im giving it a release date of either February 4th or 11th.**

 **See you all soo, sorry for the late update, and here ya go! Have a great week everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Breach**

* * *

Ruby fell down the sinkhole to an uncertain fate, unsure and afraid of what awaits her at the bottom. But soon she found herself being guided by the edge of the pit, which was now curving to the side, throwing her out into a large, wide-open cavern below Mountain Glenn.

Ruby sat there for a moment, gathering her bearings, before looking around at the area. It was indeed a very open cavern, but it wasn't empty, and it wasn't just filled with rocks. Ruby stood up to get a better look at where exactly she fell into. All around her, save for behind her, were _buildings_. Not rock buildings, not wooden shacks, but concrete buildings, with glass, doors, even roads. There was even a large railway running through he center. It was like an underground extension of the city above them, and she fell onto the roof of one of those buildings, which was on the edge of the cavern.

Happy to be alive, she checked herself for injuries, and was relieved that she got by with just minor scrapes and bruises. Ruby looked around for a way down briefly, but was interrupted with the loud opening of a door behind her.

Ruby quickly turned around to see two men wearing White Fang uniforms and brandishing assault rifles coming out with their weapons raised. Her entrance hadn't gone unnoticed it seems.

"Freeze!" One of them commanded.

"Where did she come from?" The second asked his partner.

The two guards walked forward towards Ruby, causing her to step back to keep some ground between her and the enemy, only to be backed against the ledge of the building.

"You're a long way from home, little girl." The first guard says to her.

Ruby reaches back for her scythe, only to realize her signature weapon was missing. Both guards approach Ruby in her cornered state, and the second one grabs her by the arm to reprimand her.

"Hey! Hands off!" Ruby shouts, jerking her arm free of her captor and begins to punch him, only to have very little effect on him.

The guard then punches Ruby in the face hard enough that she is knocked onto the ground.

The two guards then stand over Ruby as she is dazed from the blow.

"The boss is gonna want to see this one..." The first guard says to his partner. The second nods in agreement before raising his boot into the air, and kicking Ruby in the head, knocking her unconscious.

* * *

Back above ground, and at their makeshift camp, everyone continues to sleep, minus Yang, who is on watch. The sun was now rising, and there still didn't seem to be any Grimm activity other than one or two Beowolves in the distance, which were clearly keeping themselves far away from their location for whatever reason.

Yang looked at the clock on her scroll. It was still early in the morning, but there was still time for them to sleep or at least rest for a while, and it was time for Weiss to go on watch. She turned around to call over to her teammate. "Hey Weiss, it's your..." She stopped as she noticed the absence of one person in particular. "Ruby? Hey, where's Ruby?"

Everyone shot up and became alert within an instant.

"What?" Oobleck asks in both disbelief and as if he heard her wrong.

Just then Zwei comes sprinting around the corner of the staircase and into the room barking.

"Zwei?!" Yang asked in surprise, also noting the distress of her dog, and the absence of her sister with the corgi.

"What's going on?" Blake asked, still trying to make sense of the situation.

"Grab your weapons! Your leader may be in trouble." Dr. Oobleck commanded them.

The thought of what might have happened to Ruby began to invade Steven's mind from the beginning, all of which were the worst-case scenarios. But he quickly grasped the notion that he can still do something in helping her by finding her. He didn't know what her actual situation was; if she had disappeared or simply got stuck somewhere and Zwei came back to get them all. But regardless of what the situation may be, he would be there, and he will protect her from any danger, no matter how small.

Steven's determined demeanor didn't go unnoticed by Yang as they all grabbed their gear quickly. It made her feel slightly more at ease that someone else cared for her so much, and it warmed her heart that the two were that deeply in love from how they acted around and about each other. But she shook that all from her head for the time being, right now, her sister needed her.

"Zwei, show us where Ruby is!" Yang commanded the small corgi, who barked in response before turning around and running back down the staircase from which he came.

To move faster and to stay closer to Zwei, Steven used his semblance to turn himself into a husky, and followed Zwei closely with everyone else right behind them.

' _We're coming Ruby.'_ Steven thought to himself. _'We'll find you.'_

Zwei led them all down the streets a few blocks away until they arrived at the large sinkhole that Ruby fell into. Zwei barked at the hole as they stopped there. Steven returned to his normal form as well.

"Ruby's Scythe!" Yang said as she spotted it next to the hole. Steven quickly grabbed the folded up weapon, and held it in his hands for the time being.

"Oh no." Blake commented.

"She wouldn't willingly leave this behind." He observed.

"Do you think she fell?" Weiss asked.

Dr. Oobleck looked up into the air. "Fell?"

"Down there." Weiss said, pointing down the hole for the professor.

Dr. Oobleck then looks down at the hole, where the obvious conclusion finally hits him. "Oh my."

' _How could you not see the hole?'_ Steven silently asked himself. But what Dr. Oobleck said next surprised all of them.

"Of course!" He said.

"Excuse me?" Steven asked.

"Come again?" asked a worried Yang.

But Dr. Oobleck continued to ramble on. "Of course, OF COURSE, OF COURSE!" He shouted.

"What is it?" Blake asked, hoping for some sense to come out of this.

"How could I be so stupid?!" Dr. Oobleck continued.

"Dr. Oobleck, what's wrong?" Yang asked, growing more distressed by the second from the lack of communication.

"Mountain Glenn!" He declared, as if just remembering something. Everyone shared worried and confused glanced with each other before he continued. "Yes, an expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm! Previously home to thousands of people! Working people commuting to the city, the main city! Developed a subway system to the inner city! Grimm attacks increased! Population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into the metro tunnels and what do they find? The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!" He explained all at once.

"Doc, what are you saying?" Yang asked once more.

"My dear, we're not just looking for an underground crime network, we're looking for an UNDERGROUND crime network!" He told them, and at that moment it all made sense. Dr. Oobleck knew what team RWBY's intentions were coming here to begin with; to fight Grimm as their main objective, but as a secret side mission, find out what the White Fang were doing in the south east of Vale. The day before, they found no evidence of White Fang activity, but the notion that there was an underground portion of the city opened a whole new realm of possibilities. It gave them a place to hide secretly, from the dangers of the Grimm too, but still be able to attract them. It gave them a place to work out of secretly. And because Mountain Glenn was abandoned, no one would interfere.

The White Fang, an underground criminal organization, was actually operating underground, right beneath their feet.

"They've been working in caves?" Blake asked in disbelief.

"No, no, Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense, and unique transportation; the city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main Kingdom! Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start! As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival: They took up shelter beneath the city! In massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface!" Dr. Oobleck clarified.

"An underground village?" Yang asked.

"In a matter of speaking, yes. A safe haven. Until... an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterranean Grimm. After that, the Kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb." He ended gravely. "If Ruby is down there, we need to find her." He declared. Dr. Oobleck then took his thermos in his hand and pressed a button on the handle, transforming it into a long staff-like weapon, with a silver pole extending out the bottom with a grip at the bottom, and the top of the thermos creating a cone with a flame emanating from the hole in the center.

An idea popped into Steven's head, and he took charge.

"Everyone listen up, I've got a plan." Everyone did just that, and gave him their undivided attention. "I'll use my semblance to get down the hole safely. If Ruby is still right down there, I will bring her up, and that will be it. But, if she is not at the bottom, then I will come back up, tell you, and go back down to find her. Then, you four and Zwei will need to find a safe way down there yourselves. If there are White Fang down there, which there likely are, then we need to approach cautiously, but quickly. We cannot alert them to our presence and we cannot risk Ruby's life. They might take her as a hostage." They all grimaced at the idea, but they knew he was right, especially where the White Fang was concerned. "I'll use my semblance to stay hidden. We may not be able to use our scrolls to communicate down there, so I will use my semblance to keep in contact with you. Once we find Ruby, we get out of there. If there are White Fang down there, we assess the situation and act accordingly. There are only six of us in total, so we cannot take on an army. We need to be smart about this, so think about your actions before you make them please. Any questions?"

"How will you be able to keep in contact with us?" Yang asked, trying to clarify what Steven said.

He thought for a quick second before responding. "If you hear an eagle screech, that means I found Ruby. If you hear it twice, it means she's being held captive. If you ever hear a howl, then that means I need help. Make sense?"

Yang nodded.

"Who is going to carry Ruby's scythe?" Weiss asked. "I'm her partner; do you think I should carry it?"

"No, it's fine. I'll carry it." Steven said. "We both use a magnetic plate to hold our weapons, so I can just keep both of our weapons on mine." He then shifted his own rifle on his back over so it left half of the magnetic plate on his back open, which is where he put Ruby's folded up scythe.

Dr. Oobleck spoke up next. "Is everyone alright with Mr. Paxton's plan?" Everyone nodded. "It's settled then. Mr. Paxton, good luck, and we'll be waiting for you right here until you come back up."

Steven nodded, then turned to the hole, and went down the hole in the form of a Cardinal; small enough to fit down the hole with ease, and able to navigate it without hitting the edges.

The others waited for a few minutes, but it felt like an hour before Steven came back up, and told them she wasn't at the bottom. The rest of them then went to enact their part of the plan, while Steven went back down the hole to look for Ruby.

* * *

Down below the city, in the underground portion of Mountain Glenn, the White Fang were busy at work with their nefarious plans.

As Ruby regained consciousness she was able to observe the same two guards dragging her by her arms while her limp legs dragged on the ground. Around her she observed train cars being packed by White Fang, and Paladin mechs just like the one they fought loading heavier cargo. She can't make out what they're moving though, and she has no idea where this rail line leads. She didn't even know if she was still under Mountain Glenn either, for that matter.

She was removed from her thoughts when she heard a loud metallic thud as a device is dropped by one of two White Fang members carrying it around a train car.

"Hey, be careful! What are you trying to do, blow us to the moon?" The first one scolds the other.

"Sorry sir!" Is his only apology.

The two guards then stop where they are, but kept their hold on Ruby. Then a third guard from behind them speaks up.

"Hey boss! Found something you might want to see!" He calls into one of the nearby train cars.

"Is it good or bad, Perry? Because let me tell ya, I have had a day." A familiar voice shouts back from inside the train car.

The boar Faunus, apparently named Perry, replied "Uh… it's a little girl?" A little unsure of how his boss will take the information.

Roman Torchwick then leans out the side of the train car. Ruby glares at him upon seeing who was behind the steel box. Torchwick breathes in through his teeth upon seeing Ruby. "That would be bad." Roman then disappears behind the steel door again, before coming out of the rail car altogether, approaching his captive. "So, Red. What brings you all the way out here, away from the _safety_ of the walls?" He asks, bending over to be at eye level with her, as part of an insult to treat her like a child.

Ruby stayed silent, glaring back at Torchwick as he stood back up, twirling his cane.

"Not very talkative as always, eh? That's disappointing. I was _so_ looking forward for a conversation. Anything to make this day a bit more exciting." Just then, two eagle screeches sounded throughout the cavern. "Like that. I didn't know Eagles came underground, did you Red?"

Ruby's glare intensified.

Roman sighed. "Perry, do Eagles usually go underground? I'm honestly curious now."

"I don't believe they normally do that. But it's possible one flew down here looking for something to eat."

"See, Red? You learn somethin new every day!" He walked back over to Ruby. "I've got a lesson for ya, actually." He said, as he bent over in front of her again. " _You_ need to learn to _keep your nose out of where it doesn't belong._ " He said, tapping the end of his cane against her forehead with each stressed word. "Cuz if ya did, things would be so much _better_ for the both of us!" He said as he walked back in the other direction with his arms out. " _You_ wouldn't be _here_ , and _I_ wouldn't have a thorn in my side!" He said with anger in his voice at the end. "Release her." Roman commanded the two guards.

The two guards did as they were told, letting her go. They then stepped back a couple paces.

Ruby massaged her upper arms now that they were free, glaring at the two guards before returning her attention to Roman. This might be the only chance she had to escape, so she had to find an opening and use it.

"Alrighty. Now that you're all free and able to move around again, How about you try and run away. Go on." He urged her, but she knew better than to trust him. "How about this…" He said, as he stepped to the side, and pointed to the large, much more open space to his side with his arms, which she could easily run through. But Ruby stayed still, and on her feet. Roman shrugged. "Alright. If you're gonna make it so easy for me, then so be it." He said, walking up to her and grabbing her by the collar, before throwing her across the floor. "Wow! You are much more manageable without that over-sized gardening tool of yours." He taunted.

Ruby quickly gets up and charges at Roman in anger, but he simply side steps and sticks his leg out, tripping Ruby and sending her to the floor again.

Roman laughed. "Oh man. You know, Perry, I really did need this." Perry raised his thumb in agreement, causing another laugh from Roman. He then walked over to Ruby, and pointed his cane at her face with the end opened. "But seriously. How'd you find this place, Red?"

"Hey, boss?" Perry asked, interrupting him.

" _What_ is it Perry? I'm _kinda_ in the middle of something here." Roman replied, unhappy that his fun was interrupted.

"There's a dog behind you."

Roman stood there, looking at Perry like he was either completely foreign to him, or he was the dumbest person in the world. "Perry, I hope you're serious."

"Take a look for yourself." Perry said, pointing behind Roman.

"Don't move." Roman said to Ruby, keeping his cane on her forehead as he looked behind him.

Ruby did no such thing, she only craned her neck to see behind him.

Low and behold, there was actually a dog behind Roman, a husky in particular. It was currently half behind a corner, watching from a distance.

"Perry…" Roman sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "Why the hell should I care about this?" he asked as he looked back at Perry.

"I just thought you should know, that's all."

"Riiiight….. So where was I? Oh, yes!" He pushed harder on his cane, pushing Ruby to the ground completely. "How did you find this place?"

Ruby continued to glare at Roman, and was saved from saying anything when the husky behind them barked loudly.

Roman stood up, releasing some of the pressure off of his cane. "For Dust's sakes! Scram!" He shouted at the dog. "Get out of here! I'm in the middle of something." He waved the dog away.

The husky barked again, and began to come around the corner with its tail wagging happily, its tongue hanging out of its mouth a little.

"No, _leave_!" Roman restated. The husky began to walk towards him, however. "Shoo! Come on, get out of here!" The husky didn't stop, instead stopping and sitting next to Roman with its tail wagging, as if it was expecting something, then barked again. Roman sighed. "A little help here, Perry?"

"Sorry, boss. I've never had a pet."

Roman sighed again. "Alright, fine. Just… stay there, okay?" He said to the dog, who continued to look up at him. " _Anyways_ … back to what we were doing…" He began, before giving up his bravado and getting straight to the point. "Red, just tell me how you got here so we can all go home already."

The husky barked again, getting up from its sitting position.

"Seriously?" Roman asked with annoyance. "Just shut up!" he shouted at the dog, who seemed to ignore it.

The husky then walked up to Ruby, still being kept against the floor.

"No! Bad dog! Get back here!" Roman commanded the dog, which ignored him.

The husky then sat down in front of Ruby, and laid its head down on her chest. Ruby looked at the dog in confusion. She tried to sit up as much as she could, and the husky rose with her. She tried to look into its eyes, trying to see what it was doing. She had a dog after all, she should be able to figure out what it's doing. Maybe it was just lost. Although, this was probably the worst time to be found.

The husky licked her face, and its tail began to wag again.

Ruby looked even more confused now, Roman as well.

Then the husky seemed to wink at her.

That's when it hit her. She's seen this husky before. It's Steven.

"Seriously, get out of here, mutt." Roman said, completely done. He lightly kicked the husky in the side to get his point across.

The husky didn't budge. Instead, it howled.

"That's all fine and dandy, dog, but I'm in the middle of something here, and you need to leave. Perry, help me out here."

Then, a massive explosion sounds from inside the cavern.

"For the love of…" Roman mutters to himself. "Forget it Perry. Take the boys and find out what that was."

Perry nods, and the three guards turn around to begin to investigate the explosion, only to witness a second one down the cavern.

" _WHAT_ is going on here?!" Roman shouted in extreme annoyance.

Seeing Roman was too distracted by the commotion, Steven decided that now was the perfect time to free Ruby. He turned from his current form back into his normal self, taking Roman by surprise.

"You again?!" Roman said dumbfounded. In his brief moment of shock, Steven took Roman's cane in his hand, and shoved it away from Ruby.

Ruby immediately spotted her scythe on his back, and took it from the magnetic plate before brandishing it on Roman in its sniper form.

A third explosion resonated from behind the two of them, causing Roman to lose his balance as it shook the whole cavern.

"Run!" Steven shouted to Ruby, who immediately did as she was told and ran towards the explosion.

From around the corner the explosions were coming from, several White Fang were running away, shooting blindly at an unknown target. As they kept running, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Zwei, and Dr. Oobleck rounded the corner.

Ruby darted past the three White Fang guards that had kept her captive towards her team.

Steven took his assault rifle in his hands and pointed it at Roman to keep his attention off of Ruby while she escaped. "What are you up to, Roman?!" Steven demanded.

"What, a few buddies can't get together and have a little fun wherever they want? " He asked as if he was being victimized. "We're just doing what we were told to do; have fun!" He said with an evil smile across his face. Roman then pointed his cane at Steven's feet and fired a projectile before he could react. Steven flew through the air and landed on his back halfway between team RWBY and Torchwick.

Roman then used the space he created to get out of there. He turned to the nearest White Fang guard and grabbed him angrily by the shoulder. "Attach this cart and spread the word: We're starting the train."

"But we're not finished!"

Roman pins the guard against the side of the train car. "Do it or you're finished!"

Ruby continued to run to her team, jumping into Yang's arms as she met up with them.

"Ruby!" Yang cheered as she jumped into her arms.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked her partner.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! But listen! Torchwick's got all kinds of weapons and robots down there."

"What?!" exclaimed Blake.

Steven then ran up behind Ruby with a small char on his boot, but no other visible damage to him. "Guns, dust, mechs, they're all loaded up on the train cars!" He said, having observed the area since he spotted Ruby.

"Ahhhh, that's ridiculous. These tunnels are sealed, the tracks lead to a dead-end." Dr. Oobleck said.

Just then, a screech was heard as loud speaker began to emit a message from Roman. "Get to your places, we are leaving now!"

The train then shifts, and this hiss of the air leaving the breaks sounds as the train begins to move down the tracks at a slow pace at first.

"Well, it sounds like they're going _somewhere._ " Yang commented.

"We need backup." Ruby decides. "Let me call Jaune." Ruby took out her scroll, and tried to call Jaune, but the scroll only displayed the message 'Low Signal'. "I can't get through!"

"So, what do we do?" Weiss asked he team.

"I believe we only have one option..." Oobleck began.

"We're stopping that train!" Ruby finished for him.

* * *

At the front of the train, Roman sits driving while several White Fang guards sit around him.

"Boss! They made it on the train!" One of them calls out to him.

Roman sighs. "Then grab some cargo and get them off the train!" He commands without even looking back at them.

A few of the White Fang nod and leave to execute his orders.

"Man, animals, every one of them." Roman then looks awkwardly at the White Fang member sitting next to him, also driving the train, who is a deer Faunus, with small antlers. "Not you though, you're, heh, you're great." He said awkwardly.

* * *

"Hurry, children! We must get to the front and stop this train!" Dr. Oobleck urged them.

"Err... Professor?" Weiss asks, trying to get his attention.

" _Doctor..._ " He grumbles, before looking down into the hatch of the train car they were standing on, where Weiss was pointing at.

"What's that?" She asks.

Dr. Oobleck kneels down for a moment to get a slightly better look, everyone watching, slightly worried all the while. "That my dear... appears to be a bomb." He concludes rather calmly.

Everyone else cringes at the news, even Zwei.

Ruby looks ahead down the train to see another addition to the list of threats they are currently facing. "We've got baddies!" She says, pointing in their direction.

Down the train, dozens of White Fang climb up the sides of the train cars.

"Well, I didn't expect them to go—" Dr. Oobleck began. Below them, the bomb pulsed to life, beginning to beep and flash as it began to countdown to detonation. "—easy on us." He then calmly stands up. "Time to go!" He declares.

Everyone then begins to run off of the train car, and jumping onto the next one. Oobleck stops before he jumps to the second one. "Blake! Detach the caboose! It will kill us all!" He commands her.

"On it!" Blake jumps down onto the connectors and gets ready to cut the connection with Gambol Shroud, but as she does, the connection comes loose on its own. "Huh?" She looks up at Dr. Oobleck. "It decoupled itself!"

"What?!" He exclaims.

"I guess he _really_ doesn't want us on this train." Yang comments.

Everyone stops and looks back at the cart as it slows down on its own, getting further and further from the main train. After is retreated to a safe distance, the bomb detonates in the train car.

"That's not good..." Dr. Oobleck said ominously.

"Err, neither is this!" Ruby says, standing next to another open hatch.

"Another bomb?!" Blake asks in disbelief.

Dr. Oobleck looks ahead to the cars further up the train. He then begins to hop further up the train. "No. No. No." he says to himself as he does so, stopping a few cars up the line. He then opens the hatch, and looks back to team RWBY and Steven with worry. "They _ALL_ have bombs!" He shouts back.

Below the five of them, that bomb activates, and the train decouples, forcing them all to quickly move to the next car.

"This doesn't make sense!" Yang says.

"Why would the White Fang destroy all of this equipment?" Steven said, voicing everyone's mind.

They all looked forward again, and saw that the White Fang were much closer than they last saw them. They had to engage them if they were going to get a chance to stop the train.

Yang burst forward with her gauntlets, jumping into the air before delivering a devastating pile driver into the White Fang member unlucky enough to be her target. She then kicked behind her as another tried to grab her from behind, and grabbing the one next to that and throwing him into a few others, and knocking them off the train. Blake used her speed and agility to dash through the center of the group in a line, slashing and slicing at the enemies in front of her and to her sides as she went. Weiss used the opening to dash through the remaining group of White Fang, using her ice dust to freeze them all behind her as she used her glyphs to dash through the group of them. Ruby then used her semblance and dashed through the group of frozen bad guys, whirling her scythe around like a deadly tornado, slicing and slashing at the immobilized foes, and throwing them off of the train.

"Well, there's one problem solved." Steven said over to Dr. Oobleck, who nodded in agreement.

Dr. Oobleck then looked behind them at the decoupled train car once more as it exploded, only this time leaving a large, gaping hole on the roof of the tunnel. "Oh, dear..." He exclaims. Immediately after its creation, dozens of Grimm begin to pour into the tunnel and chase after the train. Beowolves, Boarbatusks, some small King Taijitu's and even some Deathstalkers. Even a new type of Grimm they hadn't seen much of before, but had heard about in their lessons; Creeps: strange, two-legged, subterranean creatures with no arms, instead having powerful jaws and fast speed. They were small compared to the other Grimm, but this allowed them better mobility at the expense of less armor protection as well. "He's leading Grimm to the city!" He shouted over to the students upon coming to the conclusion.

"What?" Weiss asked once more in disbelief.

"It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!" He explained.

"That's insane!" Blake exclaims.

Another car then detaches itself from the main train.

"We have to hurry!" Dr. Oobleck exclaims. He then looks over to Yang, Blake, and Weiss. "You three, go below and try to stop those bombs!"

"What abou us?" Ruby asks, referring to Steven, Zwei, Dr. Oobleck and herself.

"We're going to stop this train." He says heroically, only for Ruby to ruin the moment for him.

"Yeah, I know. I said that earlier." She responded. Dr. Oobleck looked to the side, with a face that realized she was right and he just plagiarized her or something, as if it was a horrific mistake, but he quickly shook whatever thought he had from his head.

The doctor ignores her. Instead, the four of them move onwards down the train as the other three jump down into the train car below to attempt to diffuse the bomb. As the four run down the length of the train, several White Fang jump into one of the Paladin mechs that are stored on a train car further up.

"Up ahead!" Oobleck points out to them as they continue running. The Paladin mechs were currently running at them from on top of the train.

"Are you serious?!" Steven exclaimed. "How strong are these train cars?!"

The four of them stop, getting ready to stand their ground and fight the Paladins.

"Do not worry. I can handle this, children." Dr. Oobleck said, taking a sip from his thermos before transforming it into his weapon again. Zwei then barked, and looked up hopefully at Dr. Oobleck all excited. Dr. Oobleck seemed to read his mind, as he got ready and swung his weapon like a golf club, striking Zwei, and sending him flying in a deadly, fluffy ball-of-fire towards the Paladins. The attack was enough to catch one of the Paladins off guard, sending it falling off the train from the incredible force from the hit. A second Paladin readies its guns, and aims them at Zwei, only to be thrown off the train as well as Oobleck hits him with several of his own fireballs while it was distracted.

Steven looked on dumbfounded, while Ruby looked proud more than anything.

"Go Zwei!" She cheered on.

Steven tapped her on the shoulder, gaining her attention. "We've got another problem!" He said as he leveled his assault rifle to the rear of the train, where several Creeps had caught up to the train and had jumped onto the rail car.

She mirrored him, crouching low for stability and preparing her sniper rifle to fend off the Grimm from the train.

* * *

Weiss, Blake, and Yang jumped down into the train car, the latter in front of the other two.

"I guess this is what we trained for." Yang said.

Weiss reached into her bandolier on her belt where she kept Myrtenaster, and grabbed a black magazine loaded with dust rounds. "Here, this should help you." She said, offering it to Blake. Blake took it with a nod of gratitude before loading it into the hilt of Gambol Shroud.

The three huntresses then began to run for the train car door ahead of them to continue advancing through the train.

As they neared the center of the car, however, they were forced to stop as the girl they met the night they almost caught Roman; the girl with brown and pink hair, the parasol, two different colored eyes… Neopolitan.

She stood in front of them, blocking their path silently. Her face told them she was not going to let them through so easily.

"You two go on ahead. This one's _mine_." Yang said. Weiss and Blake nodded, and began to run forward to either of the short girl's sides. For good measure, Yang fired some shotgun shells at Neo so they could pass her unopposed. The small girl backflipped out of the blast radius, but in the process, let the two other huntresses slip past her. Yang then recovered, and began to walk forward to meet her foe face-to face, towering over her as she stared at her menacingly close in an attempt to intimidate her. Neo, however, only smiled up at Yang, her eye colors switching as she blinked. Yang clenched her fist, before swinging it at Neo's face, but was knocked back unexpectedly as Neo pushed her away with the tip of her small parasol with lightning speed. Yang stumbled back, angered by her miss. Neo recovered her parasol elegantly, deploying the umbrella and putting it behind her stylishly as if this was all a game to her, a smirk plastered on her face to add to the insult. It certainly worked as intended, as Yang burst forward again with anger, furiously throwing punches at Neo, only to be dodge by simply stepping to the side, bending her body slightly, or moving her head. She remained still otherwise, her smile never faded, her umbrella never moved. The one thing Yang managed to do was push her back towards the end of the train, but that progress was soon erased when Neo folded up her parasol and began to block Yang's punches with it. When she got an opening, Neo brought her leg up and around to strike Yang in the side with her boot, throwing her to the ground, before opening her parasol again. Yang quickly got back up, and Neo folded her parasol again. Yang threw another punch, but Neo caught it between her arms with her parasol, with each hand holding one end, allowing her to force Yang's arm back to her, before kicking Yang in the face, then in the center of the chest as she turned around with the opposite leg, throwing Yang onto the floor of the train car once more. Neo jumped over to where Yang lay, and Yang quickly got up, turning to her opponent who was still smiling, causing Yang to become even angrier. Yang fired two shotgun shells at Neo deflected them with her parasol, before jabbing Yang in the stomach with the tip of her parasol, and then knocking her away once more with the handle. Yang fired two more shells, only to be once again deflected by the small umbrella. Yang took a moment, and jumped into the air and driving her fist into the umbrella on purpose, sending Neo back across the train car. Neo backflipped away from the blast, stopping on one of the crates on the edge of the train car, sitting down on it, crossing her leg over the other, and putting her parasol behind her again, opened, with that stupid grin still on her face, all to taunt Yang even further.

* * *

Ahead, Blake and Weiss continued through the train, sprinting as fast as they could. Ahead they saw a man in a White Fang uniform standing in their way, walking slowly towards them, dragging what was essentially an elongated chainsaw behind him, the chain creating sparks as they met the metal floor. Only this was no ordinary White Fang soldier. This man was much taller and stronger than the rest, and visibly so. He didn't wear sleeves like the others, showing his tattooed and muscular arms. He also wore a full-face mask, hiding every bit of his identity other than his voice. He was essentially Roman's right hand man, a White Fang Lieutenant.

As they kept running at the man, Weiss and Blake looked at each other.

"You go on ahead." Weiss said, taking the challenger.

"Got it!"

The Lieutenant stopped in place, bringing up his chainsaw and holding it with both hands, one on the trigger handle and one on a side support handle, pulling the trigger briefly to intimidate them as he laughed evilly in his deep and menacing voice.

Weiss dashed ahead, getting low as the Lieutenant spun around clockwise with his long sword. Weiss did a back flip to escape the powerful blow, Blake taking her place as she performed an uppercut with Gambol Shroud, causing the giant chainsaw to recoil upwards. Blake then used the opportunity to continue and go into the next train car. Weiss made sure she wouldn't be pursued, clashing Myrtenaster against the chainsaw as the Lieutenant tried another attack, before stepping onto and backflipping off of the weapon. Landing on her feet, Weiss blocked a low attack from the chainsaw as he tried a low swipe. She then spun around and tried to jab him in the center only to be blocked by the bulky weapon. Weiss then turned to face her opponent once more, who currently had his sword in front of him to block her swipe across him. Using the momentum from the last attack, Weiss quickly turned her wrist around to redirect Myrtenaster back at the Lieutenant, and going in for an near instantaneous second strike, only to be blocked by chance as her opponent brought his sword over his left shoulder. He left his torso wide open, and he was too slow to close the opening, leaving Weiss plenty of time to do a horizontal slash across his torso, sending him into the air and onto his back with so much force that he actually did a reverse somersault. Behind them, Blake continued on into the next train car, while the Lieutenant recovered and finally got back onto his feet.

He laughed evilly again as he stood up. "Finally, I get to kill a _Schnee_."

In response, Weiss stood in a ready posture, back straight, and eyes on her opponent, with Myrtenaster out in front of her. She spun the dust cylinder to her ice dust as she waited for her opponent to make a move.

* * *

In the next rail car, Blake was stopped by an opponent of her own, one she had a deep hatred for; Roman Torchwick.

Blake gritted her teeth at the sight of the man in front of her.

"Hello, Kitty Cat. You miss me?" He asked as he twirled his cane around in his right hand by the curved handle. "You know, we really aughta stop meeting like this." he chided her suggestively, putting his cane behind his shoulder and his free hand on his left hip. "People are gonna talk."

Blake had enough, and began running at Roman with anger ridden on her face. Roman sighed as he began to walk towards her. Blake took out Gambol Shroud, and with an explosion using the dust round Weiss gave her earlier, she propelled herself forward, before leaving a shadow copy of herself in fire with the dust round as well, causing Roman's swipe to miss her as she used her semblance to get behind him. She somersaulted as her shadow copy exploded, causing Roman to fly into the air. Blake jumped to meet him, slashing her sword across his lower body, before twirling around in the air and slashing him across his chest, before doing one final spin and slashing at his head, sending him flying into the metal floor with a loud thud. Blake landed on her feet, unsheathing Gambol Shroud and holding the sheath in her left hand in her ready stance as Roman got back up. Roman fired a flare from his cane, and as it traveled toward her, Blake used the next dust round to make her semblance copy one made of stone, negating the explosion as it hit the shadow copy. She then ran forward and jumped over what was left of her copy, using her semblance at the last second to jump off of and away from Roman's next hit. She then landed on the floor, charging at him as he tried to strike her again, only to be knocked away by her sheath. Blake spun around, trying to strike him in the mid-section as she did so, only to be blocked once more by his cane. She rapidly moves closer to him, slashing with both of her weapons at various openings only to be blocked by Roman's cane. Roman blocked another one of her strikes, before using the butt of his cane to hit her, only to receive a slice towards his torso once more, causing him to cancel his attack and jump backwards to avoid it. Roman then used his height advantage to swing the cane on Blake again where she was weak, but she saw right through him, and used her semblance and the next dust round to make a shadow copy out of ice, encasing Roman's cane within it. Blake backflipped away as he tried to free his cane, before she dashed forward and used the next round in the dust cartridge to do a downwards vertical slash a good distance away, creating a sort of 'blade beam' projectile, which passed right through Roman with terrifying force, shattering the ice shadow copy and sending him reeling into the door at the end of the train car, causing him to bounce off of it and land on the ground with a painful thud. Having dropped his cane in the process, Roman was now on the ground defenseless. Roman tried to sit up, but was stopped as Blake placed her boot on his chest, and pinned him to the ground, her katana pointed right at his throat.

Roman laughed nervously "Why are we fighting?" He asked, before changing his tone of voice more eerily "I saw you at the rally, we're on the same side and you _know_ it."

* * *

A train car behind them, Weiss prepared herself as the White Fang Lieutenant charged at her. Weiss casted an invisible glyph in front of her, creating a shield as the giant chainsaw grinded its chain against it. Behind it, Weiss readied herself in her signature stance, and when she turned off the shield, she swung Myrtenaster around and knocked the chainsaw away. The Lieutenant quickly recovered and swung the sword over his head surprisingly quickly, and Weiss was just quick enough to side step and put Myrtenaster at her side vertically, preventing the chainsaw from harming her as sparks flew as metal cut into metal. Weiss pushed the saw to the floor, and spun around in the time she created to swipe and connect on his right side, causing him to flinch as he brought the sword under his right arm. He spin around to hit Weiss in her side, but she was able to jump above it, twirling around she struck him across his mask, causing him to recoil backwards. Weiss landed on her feet, and was surprised as the Lieutenant recovered so quickly, letting go of the saw with his left hand and doing a horizontal sweep with the chainsaw at the level of Weiss' midsection, where she would be vulnerable with the small amount of time she had. Weiss did all she could do to dodge the blow, backflipping at just the right time so that the chain saw went right over and parallel to her torso, clearing her legs as they came up, and performing an uppercut to his vulnerable midsection before he could close his opening, and following it up with a slash at his left forearm. The White Fang Lieutenant then successfully deflected her next blow at his chest, but was caught off guard when she forced the chainsaw above him, before she struck him in the torso once more, sending him to the floor with a loud thud again. Weiss did a frontflip over him, landing beside him. The Lieutenant saw this and quickly sat up and began to do a 360 with his sword extended in front of him, standing up as he did so, leaving little room to dodge the chainsaw, but Weiss was able to twirl under it. The Lieutenant stopped the chainsaw behind his right side, before doing a downward slice from above his head. Weiss quickly huddled her outstretched limbs into herself while still standing, narrowly avoiding the slice. The Lieutenant grabbed the second handle with his left hand, and brought the chainsaw back up to meet Weiss, who narrowly caught the chainsaw with Myrtenaster. She blocked the attack, but the force from her opponents' follow-through forced her to jump back. The Lieutenant then tried to kick her, as she was against the crates at the sides of the cars, but she was able to jump upwards with tremendous force, causing him to kick some crates instead. Weiss corrected herself in the air, landing her feet on the ceiling, and pushing off of it while twirling with Myrtenaster above her head. The Lieutenant stepped to the side, causing her to strike the floor, but she transferred the energy of colliding with the metal floor into kinetic energy to roll herself towards her opponent, and cause less damage to herself. She then struck the Lieutenants chainsaw and jumped over another one of his horizontal cuts, before striking him in the legs with her rapier before he could attack again, sending him into the air and onto his back on the floor. As he slid on his back, he quickly did a backflip, landing on his feet. Across the train car, Weiss stood straight up with her sword vertically in front of her as a time glyph formed and spun rapidly beneath her. She crouched low, with Myrtenaster behind her as the glyph increased in speed, before bursting forward with amazing speed casting glyphs all around her opponent as she neared, causing him to look around in confusion. Weiss dashed into the Lieutenant and struck at him in the torso, before bouncing off one of her glyphs, and striking him on her way to the next glyph, and so on until there were none of hey glyphs left. Having been forced into the air from the rapid hits, Weiss used her last one to jump into the air to meet her opponent and slash at his torso once more, sending him reeling into the ground with a powerful thud. Weiss then forms another glyph, jumping off of it and putting her sword into where the Lieutenants chest would be, only he was able to get away in time to dodge. Weiss quickly recovered, and jumped into the air to attack him again. However, the Lieutenant saw her opening, and grabbed her by the face with his free hand, saying "Come here, Princess", before taking her behind him, and shoving her into the ground with a tremendous amount of force, sending debris from the train car's floor into the air. He then threw her into the air in front of him before he performed another horizontal swipe on Weiss as she came back down to the ground, unable to defend herself while unconscious.

* * *

Yang walked towards Neo as she sat on the crate with that smug grin on her face, and she would love nothing more than to rip it off of her right now. Neo sat there as she approached, only moving when Yang sent her left fist towards her. Neo leaned back, before letting her left leg deflect the punch as she began to spin around on the crate, bringing her left leg into the air and using the momentum to spin herself up and around her center of gravity, collapsing the parasol while she was upside down. As she stood on her left hand, she swung at Yang with the collapses umbrella with her free arm, before opening it up again behind her as her legs began to shift towards Yang from Gravity. She brought her left leg down onto the floor, letting the right one pass over it as she used it to allow her to spin into the air at Yang, who was now backing up to avoid Neo. Neo frontflipped and attempted to kick yang, only for her to side step and miss, allowing her to gracefully land and try it again, this time much closer, and connecting with Yang's midsection. Yang slid back but easily stopped herself, firing an explosive round at Neo, which was effortlessly deflected by her parasol. Behind it, Neo stood with her back to Yang. Yang quickly leaped into the air, and brought her fist down into the parasol once again, but she missed as Neo twirled around and away. The short girl then collapsed her parasol, trying to jab Yang in the face with the tip, only for it to be blocked by Yang's gauntlet. Yang pushed it away, and tried to capitalize on the opening she made, but Neo was too fast, using the momentum Yang gave her to spin around strike Yang's gauntlet into the air just as she was about to fire a shotgun shell at point blank. Neo then opened her parasol above her head in her signature style of taunting, before collapsing it and kicking at Yang. Yang grabbed her foot, which Neo expected. Neo tried to pull her other leg up and kick Yang, but Yang grabbed her other foot too with the other arm, before throwing her towards the end of the train car. Neo gracefully broke the force, though, stopping herself before she could take damage by landing gracefully on both feet, her parasol opened behind her once more. She quickly collapsed it, before running back into Yang, hooking her right arm around Yang's neck, and jumping up above and behind Yang. She shrugged Neo off, but not before Neo was directly above Yang, balancing off of her head as she twirled around, Yang trying to throw her off. Neo grabbed hold of Yang's left arm, using it to twirl herself around, before sending Yang flying upwards into the ceiling, and then to the ground with a very loud, very painful thud, landing on her back unconscious.

* * *

Blake thrust her katana closer to Roman's neck.

Roman grunted at the action as he tried to retreat his neck away from the blade, then trying to taunt the Faunus girl. "Aaaah, still feisty. _So..._ What are we gonna do now…?" Blake glared at him while she gritted her teeth in anger, debating whether to kill him or capture him. "Do you _really_ think a little bow on top is gonna make people forget who you were? _What you've done?"_

Blake was about to act, but she was taken from her rage as the door to the train car behind her opened up as an unconscious Weiss was thrown in by the White Fang Lieutenant, her unconscious body simply rolling across the floor as he stepped through the door.

"So what's it gonna be, Blake?" Roman said. Blake sheathed Gambol Shroud, and before he could say anything else, Blake kicked him in the side of the head so hard it knocked his hat off and rendered him unconscious. Blake quickly ran to Weiss' aid, grabbing her in her arms as the White Fang Lieutenant began to run at them. Blake quickly took Weiss and ran for the door.

* * *

Neo walked towards Yang, grabbing the handle of her parasol as she began to unsheathe a long, narrow blade from the inside of her umbrella. She stood over Yang with the point facing downwards. She brought the thin, sharp blade up with an evil grin on her face. She was about to plunge it into Yang, but was stopped by a commotion to her side, and her giddy grin was turned into a fearful frown. From the ceiling, a mysterious figure dropped to the ground, dashing at Neo with incredible speed, slashing at her with a long, red katana, which she was just barely able to jump away from. The mysterious figure tried to slash at her again and again, forcing her back aggressively, and keeping Neo guessing, before sheathing her katana where she stood. Neo looked at the figure now that she had distance. The figure was clearly a woman based on her figure. She wears a shallow cut black dress with red on top, tribal-like patterns adorning some of it. She wore red samurai gauntlets, and a red girdle-belt. An object that looks to be made from feathers hangs from the right side of her skirt. She also wears detached black leggings with a red splatter pattern, and black leather boots beneath them. However, the thing that stands out the most is her mask. It covers her entire front and sides of her face, with a bit on top that went beyond her raven black hair that hung our behind it as if to protect it from above. As the figure stood up once more, and turned her head to Neo with her right arm still on her sword's hilt, she saw the four eye slits of the mask, and all of the red Grimm lines like a White Fang mask would have, only this woman was definitely not White Fang. The round and rather large sheath for the sword began to spin something around on the inside, revealing what is likely different colors of blades, before landing on another red one. She then unsheathed her sword once more, slowly as if to stir the fear inside of Neo, before pointing it at her. It did just that to her, and she immediately got out of there as quickly as she could, jumping into the air with her parasol behind her and using her semblance to teleport away.

With Neo gone, the mysterious woman looked back at Yang, somewhat disapprovingly, before slicking the air to her right, creating a large, ovular dark red portal next to them. She then resheathed her sword, without taking her eyes away from Yang. Walking backwards towards the portal, she took once last look before turning around and heading into its unknown abyss and destination.

Yang stirred as the mystery woman entered the portal, coming into consciousness just as she was about to leave. She sat up, and opened her eyes, only to see the mysterious figure disappear before her, but not before getting a good look at her. Yang looked at where the portal once was. ' _Did she just save me?_ ' she mentally asked herself. ' _Who was she? Could it be…?_ ' she asked herself. She was certain that she was not seeing an illusion, but Yang quickly remembered where she was, and decided that she would have to worry about this later. Heading for the door, she went looking for her teammates.

* * *

On top of the train, Steven, Ruby, and Oobleck battled against one of the Paladins, with the former two behind the mech. The Paladin brought its two fists into the air over Oobleck's head, who sped out of the way at the last moment. Capitalizing on the situation, Steven quickly jumped onto the back of the Paladin and began to fire explosive rounds into the servos behind the cockpit that controlled the arms. Dr. Oobleck then signaled him to jump off as he fired a rocket from his thermos. Steven backflipped off of the mech as the rocket detonated, reconcentrating his weapon on the mech while Ruby prepared her sniper scythe from behind the machine, twirling it around to build enough momentum before planting the blade in the top of the train car. Oobleck prepared his rocket launcher thermos as well, and they all made sure to fire at the machines legs, causing a tremendous amount of damage, and for the machine to fall over the train car from the explosions created by the dust rounds.

Dr. Oobleck, Ruby, and Steven regrouped where the mech once stood. From the rear of the train, more Paladin mechs were quickly running down the length of the train.

"You two!" the Doctor said. "You go on ahead!" He said, pointing towards the front of the train.

"Uuuh, but-" Ruby tried to argue.

"Don't worry Ruby." Dr. Oobleck assured her. "It's time… _I teach them a lesson_." Oobleck then ran off towards the incoming enemies to fight them and buy his students some time.

Ruby looked down at Zwei, who was at her feet, and saw that he was visibly watching Dr. Oobleck, seemingly upset. Zwei looked up at Ruby with a plea in his eyes. "Go." Ruby said as if it was an epic farewell. Zwei's ears perked up instantly. He barked before running over to Dr. Oobleck with his stubby little legs to help his new friend.

"Let's go, Ruby." Steven said, gently grabbing onto her shoulder. She nodded, and the two turned around towards the front of the train, and began to run down the car but suddenly stopped at what they saw down the tunnel.

The end.

In front of them, and approaching fast, was the sealed off end of the tunnel. Coming out of one of the roof hatches behind them, Blake, Yang, and a now conscious Weiss met up beside the two of them, looking at what lay ahead of them.

"What do we do?" Blake asked.

Weiss and Ruby nodded to each other. In one swift motion, Weiss twirled around and plunged Myrtenaster into the train car, creating dozens of thick ice crystals that surrounded the five of them.

It wasn't a moment too soon, for as soon as the crystals finished forming, the train collided with the steel and concrete seal of the tunnel.

And everything went white following a deafening explosion.

* * *

Steven's ears rang as his eyes finally began to open again. Soon, however, that ringing was replaced with the distinct sound of Vale's emergency sirens. Steven coughed, while Yang did the same. Blake held her head around her temples tightly, and Weiss and Ruby, however, just seemed lightly dazed. The five looked around where they were: in a pile of rubble created by the train, having blown through the sealed tunnel and up above into the streets of Vale. Currently, they were in some sort of park square, or something of the like. It was likely a place where many popular shops were located as well, which was reinforced by the vast amount of people there. Everyone was watching them; unsure of what to do. There was no present danger, the five people in the rubble looked okay enough as it was to them, but they all were most certainly in shock at the sudden event. Steven began to stand up, having to take a moment and push on his knee with his arm to assist himself. He limped slightly over to Ruby, grabbing her hand in his own before helping her to her feet.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just a little banged up, but I can walk it off." She replied. Ruby then went over to Weiss, and helped her up.

Yang helped Blake up, and the five made sure each other was alright, and relatively unharmed.

But then Steven remembered something.

There were Grimm running behind the train.

A _LOT_ of Grimm.

Steven's eyes widened in realization, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"What's wrong?!" Yang asked, slightly panicked.

Steven looked behind him at the train jutting out of the ground before yelling "RUN!"

The four others didn't ask why, they just did as they were told. Just as they cleared the rubble, a giant King Taijitu blew through the rubble, creating a large hole, where Grimm started pouring out of. They went straight for the horrified civilians watching them, who ran and fled as best they could in terror. The howls of Beowolves, squeals of Boarbatusks, shrieks of Deathstalkers, roars of Ursai, and grunts of creeps filled the air as they all began pouring out of the opening and into the city, spreading out as far as they could.

The city of Vale has been breached.

* * *

"I'm sure they're _fine_." Pyrrha reassured Jaune once more as the two strode down the launch pads towards the Bullhead they would be taking to go on their mission. They held hands as they did so, with Nora skipping happily next to them, and Ren beside her to keep her from doing anything stupid.

"You think?" Jaune asked, still unsure. The call he had received randomly in the middle of the night from Ruby sounded bad. It could've just been interference or something, but for some reason he really doubted it.

"Probably a butt-dial." Nora pipped in as she continued skipping.

"Team RWBY has always performed exceptionally in the field. We should be focusing on our own mission." Ren added.

"We're going to be deputies!" Nora cheered with excitement.

Jaune sighed. "I just got this… _feeling_ , I dunno." He said once more.

" _Jaune_." Pyrrha said, catching his attention as they stopped so she could make eye contact with him and make sure he was listening.

But before she could finish what she was going to say, the sound of Vale's emergency sirens filled the air, emanating from the city across the water. The four looked out across the water, and saw a large plume of smoke emanating from the center of the city.

The siren had barely gone through a cycle by the time Beacon's emergency sirens began to blare in unison, the noise so loud that Nora had to block her ears.

There was an emergency clearly going on, one that needed the academy's help it was so bad. Well, looks like JNPR might be able to help out. Jaune looked at his teammates. "We're changing our mission. Everyone on board!" He commanded as he began to jog to the airship, with the others right behind him. He stopped Ren as he got on the airship, though. "Ren, we'll make it out to that village another time." He assured him, earning a nod from Ren. Jaune ran in behind Ren, shouting to the pilot "Take us into the city!"

With that the pilot quickly closed the ramp in the back of the bullhead and immediately gave thrust to the engines, quickly lifting the VTOL into the air before the engines rotated 90 degrees forwards, and began heading to the city, along with several other Bullheads nearby.

Nearby Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald were watching what was unfolding in the city from an adjacent vacant landing pad. They shared distressed looks on their faces too, but not for the same reasons as the others around them.

"You don't think…" Emerald began.

"That sure looks like it." Mercury confirmed for her.

"But that's still days away!" She exclaimed.

Mercury turned to Cinder. "So… what do we do?"

Cinder thought for a moment, eyes narrowing as she considered several options. "We're changing the plan." She finally said, although unhappily. "You two will help fight the Grimm, and I'll hang back." Her two lackeys nodded in agreement. "And try to make as little contact with the target as possible. We're only changing this small part of the plan. The rest remains the same. Am I understood?" She asked in the most serious tone, looking at both of them with an evil stare that would kill them instantly should they betray her. The two nodded once more, before they too set off for the city.

* * *

The five students that survived the train crash were now gathered on a small raised platform in the middle of the square they were in, and were now in a small circle, ready to fend off the Grimm around them. However, that was easier said than done, considering they were surrounded by dozens of Beowolves, Creeps, and one giant King Taijitu at the moment.

It was an intense stare down between the aspiring Huntsman and Huntresses and the creatures around them, both waiting to see who would make the first move.

The King Taijitu broke the stalemate, shrieking into the air, signaling all the other Grimm to attack at once.

Ruby took the initiative, jumping off of their elevated position and plunging her scythe blade into the ground. Many of the Beowolves changed direction and headed for her, and she waited for them to get close enough. Ruby then began to run in a circle around the place where her scythe was embedded, using it as a central point to spin around with the weapon. She then jumped into the air and began to run along the wall of Grimm that tried to attack her, kicking them in the face repeatedly as she went around.

Nearby, Yang jumped off of her end of the platform, aiming for a small Creep. She landed with her feet on the small Grimm, before using her shotgun gauntlets, pointing them straight at the ground and firing them, combining with the spring-like force from landing on the Grimm, to fling her into the air. Yang then began to barrage the surrounding area with her explosive shotgun shells, peppering and dismembering Grimm unfortunate to be within her radius. Yang pumped her gauntlets in the air to reload them, but was taken by surprise when three Nevermores came in from behind her, and sent her plummeting to the ground.

On the platform, Blake used her sheathe and performed an uppercut on the Beowulf next to her, stunning it, before using her katana blade to stab it through the bottom of its jaw, and impaling it through the skull. Blake quickly recovered her weapon and collapsed the blade to return it to its pistol form, before getting low for stability while she turned her body, shooting each of the several Creeps that were running at her.

Nearby Blake, Weiss slashed at the exposed abdomen of the Beowulf that just jumped at her, sending it up and over her as it went limp. She then thrust the hilt of Myrtenaster at the Beowulf in front of her, stunning it, and allowing her to spin around and stab a Beowulf through the abdomen that was about to leap on her from behind. Weiss shrugged the Beowulf carcass off of her blade, before casting a glyph beneath her, and slashing in the direction of several other Beowolves on the edge of the platform, reaching them all with a sword formed of ice.

Off the side of the platform, Steven swung his sword across a Beowulf's abdomen, then quickly turned around in the same direction of his attack, and continued his swipe to cut a Beowulf behind him below the knees. He then quickly got up, and plunged the sword into the downed Grimm, before taking it back out thrusting his sword under his right armpit and into a Beowulf about to attack him. Steven recovered his sword, and looked around to see several other targets approaching at once. He freed his left hand from his sword, and drew his side arm, switching it into its war axe variant.

Having recovered from the crater she fell into not long ago, Yang had since fought her way to the streets, using her gauntlets to create an explosion under the front of a car on the street, sending it tumbling into the many Grimm behind it.

Ruby swung her scythe around in combination with her semblance lightning fast, killing any Grimm unlucky enough to be caught within the radius. Without wasting any time, she quickly dashed over to another nearby Beowulf, interrupting its attack and cutting it across the abdomen. She then heard a hiss, halting her from any further attack, and looked up at the large Grimm Snake as it looked down on her, about to strike. Then, she heard a small explosion from nearby. She looked in its general direction, and the Grimm mirrored her, to see none other than Nora Valkyrie coming in over the buildings, riding her hammer as it propelled her through the air. Nora clicked the trigger on her hammer as she neared the King Taijitu, causing it to detonate a grenade for extra thrust, and brought the hammer down on top of the Grimm's head, causing it to recoil and fall to the ground.

Nora jumped away from the creature, and formed back up with the rest of team JNPR, with Pyrrha landing between them from the airship above. She quickly recovered, before shouting "Let's move!". Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha stormed into action to assist their friends, leaving Jaune in the dust as he breathed a sigh of annoyance. That was his job after all, to call the team into action. Accepting his fate, however, he ran into action as well shortly after them.

Nora swung into a Creep with her hammer, launching it into the air, while Ren jumped across two Creeps, plunging his daggers into them as he went along, then jumping off the second, before charging at a Beowulf, spinning around in front of it, striking its exposed torso with the blades of his Stormflowers.

"Okay, who's first?!" Jaune asked himself as he ran in to help his teammates. His first opponent stopped him in his tracks, however, as it landed behind him and growled. Jaune froze, before slowly turning around to meet the giant Ursa Major that stood next to him, bigger than the one he fought in Forever Fall. The Ursa went down on its front paws and let out a fierce roar at Jaune. Jaune stepped back slightly, and laughed nervously as he did so, mentally cursing himself and his big mouth. "Oookay… you're first huh?" he said as his sword shook from fear. "Ok, no, th-that's fine."

On the other side of the square, Pyrrha had just finished mopping up several Creeps with her sword, and looked back at Jaune to see how he was handling himself, and became very worried upon seeing the enemy her partner and boyfriend had to face. She wanted to immediately help him but she told herself to wait. She wanted to see him do it himself, and that's what he would want.

"Totally fine. Done this before, done this before, done this before…" Jaune said to himself as he continued to retreat to mentally prep himself and to calm down. Jaune halted, and sighed, before raising his sword and slicing at the Ursa's exposed underside, not leaving it any time to recover as he continued by slashing across the beast repeatedly, over and over and over. When Jaune was finished, he looked up at the Ursa, which was still standing in front of him, but frozen in place. It shook slightly a few times, and eventually fell backwards, dead, and began evaporating. Pyrrha smiled to herself knowing that her worry was unnecessary.

Behind the felled corpse of the Ursa, Sun and Neptune stood, having arrived to help as well.

"Nobody move!" Sun yelled. "Junior detectives!" He announced, presenting his badge that he received from his teams' mission that said "City of Vale" on a bronze shield, with Vale's coat of arms in the center, and "Junior Detectives" below it.

"We have badges so you know its official." Neptune added, presenting his own badge as well. The two bumped fists, before looking upwards upon hearing the deafening sound of engines from above as an Atlesian air-frigate appeared over the tops of the buildings, casting a shadow over the entire area from its immense size. Several attack transports flew over in formation, with many others scattered around the city's air space. Sun dropped his badge, his entrance upstaged.

The Hunters and Huntresses all looked up at their much welcomed saviors; the Atlesian Military, grateful that they had arrived in time.

Steven stood next to Ruby, looking up at the large force above them in awe.

"Wow. That just might be the second most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Steven said next to her.

"What's the most beautiful thing?" Ruby asked with her head tilted to the side and a look of curiosity on her face.

"You." Steven replied smugly as he looked at her.

Ruby blushed furiously and looked to the side, but didn't try to hide the smile on her face. "Shut up. We're fighting Grimm." She said quietly.

Steven took out his side arm, and aimed it directly over Ruby's shoulder, and fired at a Beowulf that was about to attack Ruby, killing it instantly. "I know." Steven replied, unfazed.

* * *

Several gunships flew overhead, firing at any Grimm they found with their gatling guns mounted below the nose as they headed for their destinations. They dropped Atlesian android soldiers into the streets to combat the Grimm as they flew around, proving a good match against the creatures.

Several androids successfully took out a Beowulf, its carcass landing in front of Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury, who had just arrived themselves. The two looked on to their leader, who had a small smile on her face. She nodded her head slightly towards the square. They took their cue, and began to run into the square to help the students and androids, while Cinder walked away in the opposite direction.

Mercury immediately jumped forward, kicking a Beowulf to the ground with a blast from the shotgun on his boot, before running off to attack even more. Emerald unsheathed her two revolvers, spinning them in her hands before holding them out in front of her at the several Beowolves before her. They began to charge, and she fired her weapons at her attackers, striking each of them down. An Ursa Major broke through her attack, however, causing her to backflip away to dodge its attacks. She then deployed the daggers attached to her revolvers, and extended them so they were below her weapons like sickles. She launched herself forward, faster than the creature could react, striking it wherever its armor was weak, both in front and behind the beast. Seeing her tactic wasn't enough to kill it, she then deployed the chains between the blade and handle she held them by, effectively increasing her range dramatically. She swung the blades around on the chains at the creature, angering it and causing it to try and attack her once more. Emerald jumped over it and spun around in the air, cutting at the Ursa's back with her extended daggers as she did so, killing it.

Nearby, some of the rubble near where the train lay embedded in the ground began to shake, distracting several Grimm. A mechanical hand soon emerged from the pile, assisting a one-armed Paladin Mech out of the ground, barely clearing its torso before the arm locked under the strain from all the damage it had taken. Zwei then appeared on top of the mech, happy as ever. He leapt into the air, and struck a Beowulf in the head with his own, before bouncing back onto the ground as if nothing happened. The Beowulf recoiled backwards, and landed on its back in an evaporating heap, while Zwei wagged his tail.

In the sky, another Bullhead circled around and flew in with even more reinforcements; Team CFVY and Professor Port. The four students leapt out of the side of the VTOL. Velvet Scarlatina and Fox Alistair bolted forward to engage the enemy, while Coco Adel walked forward, leaving Yatsuhashi Daichi behind. The tall green armor-clad man stood up, taking notice of the Beowolves that decided to drop in all around him. Yatsu grabbed the handle to his giant orange sword over his shoulder, taking it off of his back, before grabbing it with both hands. He then quickly spun around, brought the sword over him, and struck it into the ground as all of the Beowolves tried to pounce on him, creating a shockwave and crater underneath it, launching the Grimm and debris in several directions.

Ahead, Fox used the blades that went past his elbows on his gauntlets to hold the arms of the Beowulf over him, allowing him to kick it away with tremendous strength. Next to him, Velvet kicked away a Creep, before jumping off of it and kicking the Beowulf Fox stunned in mid-air with both legs, staggering it even further. A Creep then ran up beside it in an attempt at flanking Fox, which the blind year-two student responded with by sending one of his arm blades into the top of its skull. Velvet jumped into the air once more, kicking upwards at the Beowolf's jaw, then knocking it to the side with a second kick, before finishing it off with a backwards bicycle kick, and landing next to Fox again. Fox moved his head around, listening for the next target. Ahead of him an Ursa Major growled at him and Velvet, with several Beowolves at its sides. Fox honed in on the Ursa, and ran forward to meet his foe. He punched the creature in the gut, before doing a backwards bicycle kick, launching the Ursa upwards and back. Fox didn't give the Grimm a second. As soon as the Ursa landed, Fox was right on top of him, slashing at the underbelly of the beast with his blades several times, sending the Grimm stumbling backwards at an alarming rate. Fox ended it with a powerful uppercut, sending the Grimm into the air once more. He then waited as the Ursa began to return to the ground, sending his fists into the creatures' skull as it landed, sending a shockwave through the creatures' body from the explosive force. The Ursa's direction changed and was sent hurling backwards to where it came from. The creature landed and immediately exploded from the excessive forces it experienced. The Grimm's sharp spines flew from its body, embedding themselves in the ground and any Grimm unlucky enough to be impaled by them. Coco Adele bashed a few spines away from her with her black studded handbag. "Nice hustle, Fox" She commended her teammate, walking past him as she did so. "Good job."

Coco walked up to her next opponent, a Beowulf that was easily three times her height. The creature roared into her face in an attempt to intimidate her, but an attempt is all it remained. Coco stared back at the Grimm through her sunglasses, pulling them down so she could look at I directly. " _You_ just destroyed my favorite clothing store." She said, pushing her sunglasses back up before spitting to the side. "Prepare to die." The Beowulf brought his right arm behind him and into the air, bringing it over his head and down onto Coco. She expertly swung her studded handbag upwards to meet the Beowulf's arm, smacking it back up into the air. The Beowulf tried again, this time being kicked in the groin before it could hit her. The Grimm fell onto its stomach, grabbing its Johnson, allowing Coco to bend over and look at it in the eyes directly. Coco then brought her handbag behind her before bringing it over her head and smashing it into the Grimm's skull, sending debris outwards in a small area created by the impact crater under the Beowulf's head. Coco stood up, and noticed the three regular sized Beowolves and the giant DeathStalker rapidly approaching from behind the Grimm she just fell. One of the Beowolves lunged forward, only to be met by a smack to the face from her handbag. She then swung it into the side of the next one, causing it to collide into the third as they were sent away. Coco immediately looked alive as the Deathstalker tried to kill her with its stinger, just barely jumping backwards in time. Velvet ran to her side, grabbing the box by her right hip to use it. Coco saw this, and held her hand out in front of her. "Hey! Come on, you spent all semester building that up." Velvet stepped back, a little disappointed, but nonetheless she understood and obeyed. "Don't waste it here." Coco finished, striding back over to the Deathstalker. With a press of a button on the small handle of her handbag, the two sides folded down and the sides opened upwards and to the sides, allowing the golden metal inside to expand and take. With the handle turning into the trigger, and a handle on the left side so she could hold it for stability, Coco's small handbag somehow transformed into a giant golden Gatling gun with six barrels and a drum magazine on the left side. She immediately spun up the barrels, and wasted no time in unleashing the fury of the chain gun, immediately slicing through the Deathstalker with the armor piercing rounds. Without letting go of the trigger, she turned about, sweeping away any Grimm unlucky enough to be caught in the barrage of gunfire. She then directed it upwards, immediately slicing a Nevermore in half through the middle, and knocking the other two out of the sky.

Nearby on one of the streets that ran around the square, Steven stood vigilant in the face of the many charging Beowolves, Creeps, and Boarbatusks in front of him. Having taken very few hits, and generally maintaining much of his aura, he still had plenty of it left. That meant he could use it however he wished now that things were under control. With a smirk on his face, he stood in the face of danger as the Grimm approached, using his semblance to transform into a Triceratops at the last second, causing several of the Grimm to impale themselves on the three horns of his skull as they ran into him. Steven then charged forward into the rest of the group, sending them to the side or impaling them too. After getting through the group, he shrugged them all off of his horns, before turning back around to face the ones still alive. With half of the initial group still kicking and running at him, Steven decided to shapeshift once more, this time into a Minotaur similar to the one he used while fighting Ruby. Taking the Boarbatusk that tried to charge him into his hand, he threw it into a Beowulf further away, knocking him over and plowing into several more as it continued flying until it was embedded into a building. Stomping onto a creep with his left foot, he next grabbed another Beowulf with both of his hands. It clawed at his grasp as it was hoisted in the air, and split in two above his head. Steven roared in triumph at the unfazed Grimm, who continued to try to attack him. Deciding it was time to finish them, and any Grimm coming down that street, Steven turned into the Behemoth of a monster he had turned into just the day before. Roaring at the Grimm, he then drew his head backwards, inhaling deeply, with a noticeable red glow coming from the gaps between his teeth. Pointing his mouth at the enemy, he began to breathe a steady stream of fire onto his enemies beneath him, igniting and incinerating them within seconds. Turning away from his deceased enemies, Steven kept his constant stream of fire going, targeting other nearby enemies. Assisting Sun and Neptune with his fire, accidently melting a few Grimm Weiss had frozen, much to her anger, and killing an Ursa before it destroyed several Atlesian androids, he then ceased his line of fire, and returning to his normal form. Now free of Grimm, Weiss glared at him from across the square with a noticeable pout. Steven simply put his arms up in an attempt at an apology, but he wasn't really all that sorry about it; he was having fun, and as long as he was being safe about it, he believed he should be allowed to get away with it. Then again, he did set a few trees on fire, which he noticed as Weiss cast an ice glyph on the trees on one of the corners. Woops.

Rounding the corner, Professor Goodwitch was everything but happy, disregarding a Beowulf with a flick of her riding crop and a bit of her semblance to send it into a wall. She strode up angrily to the site of the breach, using her semblance to lift the rubble up and around the site, before putting it all back where it belonged in the first place, effectively sealing the breach.

The breach was over.

With the entrance the Grimm were using to enter the city with now blocked, and with all of the Grimm having been destroyed by the many Hunters and Huntresses, as well as the military androids of Atlas, there was only the subject of the cause of the disaster to attend to.

* * *

With the rest of the Grimm having been mopped up, and the rest of the damage repaired, the hunter teams that came to the city's aid, as well as Zwei and Dr. Oobleck, having escaped the rubble some time ago, and Professor Port and professor Goodwitch, all gathered around near the center of the square where their battle had taken place. Congratulations were shared; pats on the back were given.

Having been apprehended earlier by Mercury and Emerald, Roman Torchwick was now being escorted by the two Mistral Huntsman onto an Atlesian airship, guarded by two androids.

"Oh, I can't believe that you caught me, you've really taught me the error of my ways." Roman said sarcastically as he was forcefully taken by the arm by one of the Atlesian Knights. "He-hey, watch the hat!" He exclaimed as he was forcefully taken away into the airship.

Emerald and Mercury then join the rest as the airship begins to lift off.

"Good work students." Glynda Goodwitch congratulated them. "Thanks to you, the Kingdom is safe. This is _exactly_ what being a Huntsman is about." She said with a somewhat proud smile on her face.

Some small congratulations were shared once more between them all.

"Mission accomplished." Emerald said quietly to Mercury as the two bumped fists.

* * *

Later that day, as the sun was beginning to set over the city, team RWBY, along with Steven and Zwei sat on the edge of one of the landing pads at Beacon Academy that overlooked the city from across the bay.

"Well, we did it." Yang said with a sigh of relief.

"We did it." Blake repeated.

"If we don't get extra credit for that, I'm gonna be seriously disappointed." Weiss chipped in.

"Weiss, a two-headed snake literally crushed a bakery. I wouldn't count on it." Yang replied.

"Plus, I mean, we didn't solve everything. A lot of people were hurt, and we still don't even know why they did this, or who that mystery girl was." Ruby said, a little downtrodden.

"But no one died. We have to keep that in mind. Not a single person was killed today, and it was all thanks to us." Steven said, hugging Ruby closer to him, making her feel much more at ease.

"We might not have all the answers, but we do have a lot of dangerous people behind bars. And I think that's something we could be proud of." Blake added.

"Yeah! And if anyone tries something like this again, we'll be there to stop them." Ruby stated.

Yang then lied down on her back, tired. Zwei mirrored her, although playfully rather than tiredly. "Yay, teamwork, camaraderie, good guys, go team, alright, good job…" She said halfheartedly, clearly exhausted from all of the days' events. "So what now?" She asked after a long pause.

"I suggest training for the tournament, but I guess we have that covered at this point." Weiss reconsidered, recalling the events herself.

Steven chuckled. "Yeah, I think you have that covered." Weiss smiled.

"So then..." Blake began.

"Time for bed?" Ruby asked, voicing the question in everyone's mind.

"Please." Yang dragged out.

"Absolutely." Blake immediately said.

"Yes." Weiss said simply.

"Oh, yeah." Steven said, stretching as he stood up.

The six of them then began heading back to their respective dorm rooms for a much needed rest.

* * *

Up above in Beacon's tower, Ozpin was not having such a relaxing time. Currently looking out his window, he was not really paying much attention to the video call he was currently on with the Council of Vale and General Ironwood.

"Ozpin." One of the councilmen said, trying to get his attention. After no reply, he shouted louder. "Ozpin!"

The headmaster spun his chair around to face the screen with the three black silhouettes of the council taking up most of the screen and with Ironwood in the corner. "Yes, councilman."

"You've left us no choice!" One of the councilmen exclaimed. "The Vytal Festival tournament cannot be broadcast, let alone held, if we are unable to ensure the safety of the citizens."

Ozpin took a sip from his coffee mug.

The councilman cleared his throat. "Therefore, we have reached out to the Atlas Council and together have decided that the best action is to appoint General Ironwood as head of security for the event."

"Thank you, Councilman. Our Kingdom is happy to lend as many troops as it takes to ensure that the event runs smoothly and safely as possible." Ironwood said from his corner of the screen.

"And we thank you, General." The councilman replied.

"Will that be all?" Ozpin interrupted, unamused, and unhappy.

"For now." The councilman said with distaste towards Ozpin. "But after this festival comes to a close, we are going to have a serious discussion about your position at Beacon Academy. General Ironwood's reports over the last few weeks have left us somewhat... concerned. I am sure you understand."

The video feed of the councilmen then disappears, and the feed of Ironwood enlarges to take up more of the screen in its place.

"This is the right move, Ozpin. I promise, I will keep our people safe, you have to trust me." Ironwood then hangs up on his end of the call.

Ozpin takes another sip from his mug, before turning around in his chair to face the window again, staring off towards the Atlesian capital airship that hovered nearby, where Ironwood commanded from. He wanted to trust Ironwood, he really did. He wanted to think that the leader of the most powerful military on all of Remnant would be an asset in the events that were unfolding before them. But perhaps he told him too much, or perhaps he just trusted the wrong person? Only time would tell, and he knew that. But he had faith, nonetheless, which was something they were running dangerously low on these days.

* * *

On his airship, Ironwood walks down the brig on the ship, stopping before a chamber guarded by two elite guards.

"Leave us." Ironwood commanded them, which they obeyed without hesitance. Ironwood input a long code into the keypad next to the door, which lifted up to reveal Roman Torchwick held inside, without his hat or cane. "I've been informed that so far you've refused to co-operate with the authorities." Ironwood began.

"I know this might be hard to believe, General, but uh... I'm not the biggest fan of local law enforcement." Roman responded.

"How about the world's strongest military power?" Ironwood asked, folding his arms and gaining a prideful smile.

Roman looked around at his small, cramped cell. "Hmm.. first impressions... not great."

"I'm going to give you one chance. Who's really behind all this?" Ironwood asked him, referring to the attack. It was unlike Roman to do anything like this, and everyone knew it. What stumped them all was _why_ Roman was doing it.

"Isn't it obvious?" Roman asked. Ironwood leaned in closer to listen to Roman's answer. "You're looking at him."

"Hm.. Very well then." The General said, not totally convinced. Shut the door to the cell before turning around and walking back towards the bridge.

"What's the matter, General? I thought you wanted to talk." Roman taunted him.

"The council's given me custody over you for as long as I see fit. So you can make yourself comfortable. I can be sure that you'll have plenty of time to talk." Ironwood responded.

"Oh, wonderful." Roman laughed nervously, but held a secret evil smirk where Ironwood wasn't watching.

This was all according to plan.

* * *

It was now night time; the perfect time for a stereotypical meet up between fellow evil conspirators. Still in Vale, Mercury, Cinder, and Emerald stood atop one of Vale's many buildings.

"All in all, I call today a success." Cinder declared, despite how she felt about the situation earlier.

"Those stupid kids really made a mess of things." Emerald commented.

"Yeah. A lot of Faunus didn't make it out the tunnels. You still think the White Fang's gonna listen to us?" Mercury asked them.

"No." a tall man with red hair that spikes backwards in a windswept way said from behind them, He wore a Grimm mask, much like the White Fang, but it covered more of his face, has flame-like symbols decorating the front, and had four eye slits. Two small bull horns also protruded from his forehead. He wears a long-sleeved black trench coat with slit sleeves and more red designs and a white symbol on the left side. His trench coat is red on the inside with red flame-like accents at the bottom and a large emblem on the back, with a white tulip design covered by a red rose design. He wears long black pants and black shoes that are red on the bottom, and black gloves with more red emblems on their forehand, and a black belt with white domino marks on it. "But they'll listen to me."

The man's identity was none other than Adam Taurus; the leader of the White Fang.

* * *

 _Having accomplished the impossible, team RWBY, with the help of Dr. Oobleck, Steven, and Zwei, were able to thwart the plans of the White Fang, and Roman Torchwick. They accomplished much, apprehending Roman himself, and hundreds of White Fang found within the ruins of the train, but had gained few answers. Why was Roman doing this? What did he have to gain? Not only that, but should they be looking elsewhere too?_

 _Yang now has her own questions to have answered. She has a pretty good idea of who that was who saved her, but why now, after all of these years, did she come back to only save her and leave? This question will certainly haunt her for many days to come._

 _Regardless, with their success of their mission, and with the impeccable assistance that teams RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, CFVY, Steven, Emerald, and Mercury had provided during the breach, the students have been given an entire week off from classes to do with as they saw fit as a reward. The tournament starts in just two weeks, and Steven plans to enter the random battles events in Connor's honor. But Ruby and Yang plan to take this week off and rest. Maybe take a quick trip home? Find out how the story develops in the next chapter,_ _Chapter 16: Returning of the First Memories._

* * *

 **Oh, I almost forgot! I updated Chapter 1 again. The beginning isnt absolute GARBAGE anymore! so check that out if you wish! nothing new in terms of story was added, just rewritten.**

 **Other than that, dont forget to leave a review if you wish! Have a good week everyone!**


	18. ANNOUNCEMENT

Hey everyone! I know it's been awhile, and I'm sorry for getting your hopes up for a new chapter right now, but I am here to make an announcement. The next chapter is currently almost done. I know, its low-key 8 months overdue, but I have been working on it since then. The story is still fresh in my head, and It will still be magnificent.

The main reason for my lack of updating is mostly because I became extremely busy in school, and then over the summer. However, now I am in college, and I'm finding quite a bit of free time on my hands, so I decided now was finally the time I can go on and keep this up.

I never wanted to stop writing this in the first place, It just sort of had to be de-prioritized for a while, I hope you all understand. A lot has happened since then. Hell, volume 5 started yesterday (which Im SO hyped for).

Oh, and I re-wrote chapter 1! It still has the same content and stuff, but it looks and reads much much better. The intro is new and grammar doesn't suck, so I encourage you to go check it out and let me know what you think!

Additionally, I changed the cover art for the story. Take a look at it, tell me what you guys think/speculate in the reviews!

Lastly, I have a deviantart page now, so I encourage you all to check that out! I'll leave a link here and also at the end here, and at the end of every chapter. Also (HINT HINT) some of that art pertains to this story, one piece of which is for Act III. You'll enjoy it.

Anyways, I'm sorry once again for not keeping you guys in the loop, and I will be releasing chapter 16 by Friday, October 20th. I promise XD

All that's left is to answer my reviews I guess, it's the least I could do.

 **Gabrion:** Thank you my friend! I will continue to do the best work I can!

 **Lil'Manuel.G:** Thank you as always for your opinion! I love to hear what you have to say about my work. I try to show Steven's development as a character as best I can, and I believe its going well, and it will keep going that way exponentially as well, I might add. As for the council of Atlas, they don't know about Steven, I will reveal that much. Very few actually do. That is all I will say on the subject XD. Also I do agree, the fight scenes are a bit cluttered, but I am working on separating the paragraphs a bit in this next chapter so it will hopefully work better. Let me know what you think of it. Hope to keep seeing you around man! Sorry for the long wait!

 **Oyster:** me too XD

 **Oyster11:** me too, not going to lie XD

 **Guest:** lol thanks

 **Guest:** you're not wrong. I will reveal because its fine if I say this, but chapter 16 takes place directly before the festival. The beginning of chapter 17 will be at the very beginning of the festival with team RWBY's first fight. I feel safe divulging this because it doesn't give any spoilers :P

 **Guest:** Sorry for the long wait XD. Yes, Volume 4 was amazing, I loved it. And I promise you will not be disappointed by Steven's future forms. There wont be many here in the next chapter, but the future ones will be great, I promise.

 **Guest:** Sorry for the long wait, once againXD only 5 (or less) days until the next one

 **Guest:** me too XD

 **Guest:** youll find out soon!

 **Guest:** it's… interesting to say the least. May not be the kind of interaction you'd expect, but it'll eventually surprise you.

 **Guest:** That trailer was literally the definition of hype, omg.

That's all the reviews! Sorry once again for the long wait. Have a great week everyone, and I'll see you again very soon!

Remember, go there, look at some art, leave a like and some comments! I'd love for some feedback from you guys!


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